Leon P. Gold (LG-1434)
William M. Hart (WH-1604)
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
1585 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
(212) 969-3000 Telephone
(212) 969-2900 Facsimile
Jon A. Baumgarten (pro hac vice admission to be applied for)
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
1233 20th Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036-2396
(202) 416-6800 Telephone
(202) 416-6899 Facsimile
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC.; PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION;
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC.; TRISTAR PICTURES, INC.; COLUMBIA
PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.; TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT CO., L.P.;
DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.; AND TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION,
Plaintiffs,
v.
SHAWN C. REIMERDES; ERIC CORLEY A/K/A "EMMANUEL GOLDSTEIN"; AND
ROMAN KAZAN,
Defendants.)
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00 Civ. _____________
COMPLAINT FOR VIOLATION OF PROVISIONS GOVERNING CIRCUMVENTION OF
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION SYSTEMS, 17 U.S.C. § 1201, et seq.
)
Plaintiffs Universal City Studios, Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation;
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; TriStar Pictures, Inc.; Columbia
Pictures Industries, Inc.; Time Warner Entertainment Co., L.P.; Disney
Enterprises, Inc.; and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation by their
attorneys Proskauer Rose LLP, as and for their complaint, allege as
follows:
Nature of the Claims
1. This is a Complaint for injunctive relief and for money damages and
related relief against Shawn C. Reimerdes ("Reimerdes"), Eric Corley a/k/a
"Emmanuel Goldstein" ("Corley") and Roman Kazan ("Kazan") (collectively,
the "Defendants"), individuals responsible for proliferating a software
device that unlawfully defeats the DVD copy protection and access control
system -- the Contents Scramble System ("CSS") -- so that individuals can
make, distribute, and/or otherwise electronically transmit or perform
unauthorized copies of Plaintiffs copyrighted motion pictures and other
audiovisual works. The acts of the Defendants, which are described more
fully below, violate the provisions of the United States Copyright Act
governing circumvention of copyright protection systems, 17 U.S.C. § 1201,
et seq.
The Parties
2. Plaintiff Universal City Studios, Inc., is a corporation duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.
3. Plaintiff Paramount Pictures Corporation is a corporation duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.
4. Plaintiff Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is a corporation duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.
5. Plaintiff TriStar Pictures, Inc. is a corporation duly incorporated
under the laws of the State of Delaware.
6. Plaintiff Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., is a corporation duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.
7. Plaintiff Time Warner Entertainment Co., L.P. is a limited partnership
organized under the laws of the State of Delaware.
8. Plaintiff Disney Enterprises, Inc. is a corporation duly incorporated
under the laws of the State of Delaware.
9. Plaintiff Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is a corporation duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware.
10. Plaintiffs are the major motion picture studios in the United States.
Each plaintiff is engaged in the business of producing, manufacturing,
and/or distributing copyrightable and copyrighted material, including,
specifically, motion pictures. Plaintiffs distribute motion pictures
theatrically, via television broadcast, and on portable media such as
videocassettes tapes and digital versatile discs ("DVDs") for distribution
in the home video market. In the course of its business, each plaintiff or
its predecessor in interest obtained ownership of the United States
copyrights, the exclusive reproduction, adaptation, and/or distribution
rights under United States copyrights, and/or the state statutory and
common law rights, in various motion pictures embodied in such DVDs.
Plaintiffs are the leading producers and distributors of motion pictures
in DVD format in the United States, including such recent blockbusters as
"Titanic" and "The Matrix," and approximately 4,000 titles have been
released in the United States on DVD to date. Current industry estimates
place DVD sales at over 1,000,000 units per week.
11. On information and belief, defendant Reimerdes either resides or has
his principal place of business at 295 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10007
and/or 162-14 Cryders Lane, Whitestone, NY 11357. Defendant Reimerdes
operates an Internet web site addressed as www.dvd-copy.com.
12. On information and belief, defendant Corley, who, on information and
belief, uses the nom de net "Emmanuel Goldstein," either resides or has
his principal place of business at 7 Strong's Lane, Setauket, New York.
Corley a/k/a Emmanual Goldstein operates an Internet web site at
www.2600.com/news/1999/1112-files/.
13. On information and belief, defendant Kazan either resides or has his
principal place of business at 16 E. 55th Street, New York, New York
10022. Defendant Kazan operates an Internet web site at
www.krackdown.com/decss/.
Jurisdiction and Venue
14. The Court has jurisdiction of this action under 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et
seq., 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 (federal question) and 1338(a) (copyright).
15. This Court has personal jurisdiction over the Defendants in that each
Defendant either resides or has his principal place of business in the
State of New York.
16. Venue is proper in this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) and
28 U.S.C. § 1400(a) as (a) this is a judicial district in which a
substantial part of the events giving rise to the claims occurred, and/or
(b) all of the defendants reside in the State of New York and this is a
judicial district in which some of the defendants reside, and/or (c) this
is a judicial district in which some defendants may be found, and there is
no judicial district in which the action may otherwise be brought.
Background Facts
The DVD Technology
17. With the advent of the VCR and videocassette tapes, home viewing of
motion pictures became a convenient, inexpensive way to enjoy motion
pictures. DVDs are 5-inch-wide discs that hold full-length motion
pictures, are the most current technological advancement for private home
viewing of motion pictures. This technology significantly improves the
clarity and the overall quality of the motion picture when played on a
television screen or computer monitor.
18. DVDs incorporating full-length motion pictures, together with
additional and ancillary features such as interviews and alternative sound
tracks, can be played back for viewing in the home by dedicated, free
standing "DVD players" and by personal computers configured with a DVD
"drive" and additional hardware or software modules sometimes referred to
as "media players."
19. DVDs contain digital information. When motion pictures in form are
digital copied or transmitted, the clarity and overall quality of the
motion pictures do not suffer (as they do when a copy is made from an
analog source, such as a videocassette). Moreover, the fact that the
motion pictures contained on DVDs are in digital format allows any
unauthorized copies of those motion pictures from DVDs to be widely
transmitted over the Internet, stored in computer memory, and duplicated
for unlawful sale, transfer or exchange. Once these copies are in the
hands of another user, the unlawful process can begin once again because
the copies have the clarity and quality of the original DVDs containing
the motion picture.
The Contents Scramble System ("CSS")
20. Because motion pictures in unprotected digital format on DVDs would be
subject to ready, unlimited copying and create a threat to the market
viability of DVD technology, the plaintiffs were reluctant to release
valuable film libraries and new film releases without the implementation
of a copy protection and access control system. Plaintiffs therefore
ultimately adopted a copy protection and access control system developed
by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation -- the
Contents Scramble System ("CSS") -- in order to provide security to the
copyrighted contents of DVDs and thereby provide protection for
copyrighted content against unauthorized copying. CSS includes elements of
encryption and other security and authentication measures that require DVD
playback devices, including appropriately configured personal computers,
to operate with certain keys in order to descramble and intelligibly play
back copies of motion pictures from DVDs. All members of the DVD industry,
including software and hardware manufacturers of DVD players, DVD
replicators and the content providers -- the motion picture studios --
adopted CSS as direct licensees or by contracting through CSS licensees.
21. Each of the Plaintiffs relied on the security provided by CSS in
manufacturing, producing and distributing to the public copyrighted motion
pictures in DVD format. Those motion pictures, many of which involved
investments of tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars, were
distributed on CSS-protected DVDs.
The Descrambling of CSS and the Creation and Proliferation of the "DeCSS"
Utility
22. On information and belief, hackers in Europe were able to descramble
the encryption on DVDs and create -- and post on the World Wide Web -- an
unauthorized utility commonly referred to as "DeCSS," which allows motion
pictures in DVD format to be decrypted and illegally copied.
23. Subsequently, defendant Reimerdes posted DeCSS on his Internet web
site, www.dvd-copy.com, along with the statement "Yes, you can trade DVD
movie files over the Internet . . . You can break the encryption on any
DVD and allow users to copy the contents of a DVD onto the a [sic] hard
drive or alternative media! Notice: The DVD Copy Control Association are
cocksuckers!" Reimerdes also told Internet users, under a section titled
"How To Find/Trade FREE DVD Movies Online," that "people gather online in
impromptu communities and trade these digital copies through one-to-one
file transfers and group chatting."
24. Defendant Eric Corley a/k/a Emmanuel Goldstein also posted DeCSS on
his Internet web site www.2600.com/news/1999/1112-files. Corley's site
states that DeCSS is a "free DVD decoder" that allows "people to copy
DVDs." Corley's site also exhorts others ("as many of you as possible all
throughout the world") to "take and mirror [the DeCSS] files . . . ."
25. Defendant Roman Kazan also posted DeCSS on his Internet web site,
www.krackdown.com/decss/.
Claim for Relief
(Violation of Provisions Governing Circumvention
of Copyright Protection Systems,
17 U.S.C. § 1201, et seq,)
26. Plaintiffs incorporate by this reference the allegations contained in
paragraphs 1 through 25, inclusive.
27. The Copyright Act, Title 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2), provides that:
[n]o person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or
otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component,
or part thereof, that
(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected
under this title;
(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to
circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a
work protected under this title; or
(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected
under this title.
28. Each defendant offers to the public, provides, or otherwise traffics
in, DeCSS through his Internet website.
29. CSS is a technological measure that (a) effectively controls access to
works protected by the Copyright Act, and (b) effectively protects rights
of copyright owners to control whether an end user can reproduce,
manufacture, adapt, publicly perform and/or distribute unauthorized copies
of their copyrighted works or portions thereof.
30. DeCSS (a) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of
circumventing CSS or the protection afforded by CSS, (b) has only limited
commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent CSS or
the protection afforded by CSS, and/or (c) is marketed by Defendants
and/or others acting in concert with them with the knowledge of its use in
circumventing CSS or the protection afforded by CSS.
31. By offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking in
DeCSS, Defendants have violated the provisions governing Circumvention of
Copyright Protection Systems set forth in the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§
1201 et seq.
32. As a direct and proximate result of such violations, Plaintiffs have
been damaged in an amount to be proven at trial.
33. Unless enjoined by this Court, Defendants' violations will continue.
Plaintiffs' remedy at law is not adequate. Protection of Plaintiffs'
rights must include an injunction, as well as other remedies available.
Prayer for Relief
WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment against Defendants, and each of
them, jointly and severally, as follows:
1. For a grant of preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against the
Defendants, their agents, servants, employees, and all other persons in
active concert or privity or in participation with them, enjoining them
from:
(a) posting on any Internet website, or in any other way manufacturing,
importing, offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking in
DeCSS, and
(b) posting on any Internet website, or in any other way manufacturing,
importing, offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking in
any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof,
that:
(i) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing, or
circumventing the protection afforded by, CSS, or any other technological
measure adopted by Plaintiffs that effectively controls access to
Plaintiffs' copyrighted works or effectively protects the Plaintiffs'
rights to control whether an end user can reproduce, manufacture, adapt,
publicly perform and/or distribute unauthorized copies of their
copyrighted works or portions thereof,
(ii) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than
to circumvent, or to circumvent the protection afforded by, CSS, or any
other technological measure adopted by Plaintiffs that effectively
controls access to Plaintiffs' copyrighted works or effectively protects
the Plaintiffs' rights to control whether an end user can reproduce,
manufacture, adapt, publicly perform and/or distribute unauthorized copies
of their copyrighted works or portions thereof, or
(iii) is marketed by Defendants and/or others acting in concert with them
with the knowledge of its use in circumventing, or in circumventing the
protection afforded by, CSS, or any other technological measure adopted by
Plaintiffs that effectively controls access to the Plaintiffs' copyrighted
works or effectively protects the Plaintiffs' rights to control whether an
end user can reproduce, manufacture, adapt, publicly perform and/or
distribute unauthorized copies of their copyrighted works or portions
thereof;
2. For damages in such amount as may be found and requiring Defendants to
account for and pay over to Plaintiffs all profits delivered from all acts
of circumvention of copyright protection systems; alternatively, for
statutory damages in the amount of $2,500 for each act of circumvention,
device, product, component, offer, or such other amount as may be proper
pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1203(c); and
3. For Plaintiffs' attorneys' fees and costs pursuant to 17 U.S.C. §
1203(b).
4. For prejudgment interest;
5. For costs incurred in this action;
6. For such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
DATED: January 14, 2000
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
By: ______________________
Leon P. Gold (LG-1434)
William M. Hart (WH-1604)
1585 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
(212) 969-3000 Telephone
(212) 969-2900 Facsimile
- and -
Jon A. Baumgarten (pro hac vice admission
to be applied for)
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
1233 20th Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036-2396
(202) 416-6800 Telephone
(202) 416-6899 Facsimile
Attorneys for Plaintiffs