Official Statement on the ongoing proceedings in DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc.
The DVD Copy Control Association and Kaleidescape, Inc. are now scheduled to return on November 14, 2011 in Santa Clara County, California for a second trial of the DVD CCA's complaint that Kaleidescape has breached its CSS License agreement.
In the 2007 trial, which we won, the DVD CCA claimed that Kaleidescape breached the CSS License Agreement and in particular, that Kaleidescape did not comply with a document called the "General Specifications." Kaleidescape successfully argued at trial that the General Specifications document was not a part of the original contract since it was never referenced in the CSS License and was not provided to Kaleidescape until after the contract had been entered into. Kaleidescape also presented evidence at trial that its products fully comply with the General Specifications anyway. In 2007, the trial court agreed with Kaleidescape that the General Specifications are not a part of the original contract. Because of this, the trial court did not clearly rule on whether Kaleidescape complies with the General Specifications. In a rejection of existing California contract law, the California Court of Appeal ruled in 2009 that the General Specifications are a part of the contract after all. However they did not decide whether or not Kaleidescape complies with them, and sent this question back to the trial court to decide. Kaleidescape believes that it fully complies with the contract, and we expect to win again at trial.
Kaleidescape will continue to fight, and we expect to prevail. However, we recognize that it may take many years for this issue to be fully and finally resolved.
In the meantime, Kaleidescape Systems remain licensed and legal. We will continue to sell Kaleidescape Systems, develop innovative products and technologies such as our new M-class players, and provide excellent service to our customers, including the Movie Guide, the Music Guide, automatic software updates, and automatic service alerts.
Frequently Asked Questions |
| 1. Where can I read more about this case? |
| The original 2007 trial. The 2009 Court of Appeal Opinions: - Concurring Opinion by Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing. - Opinion by Associate Justices Eugene M. Premo and Franklin D. Elia. |
| 2. Are Kaleidescape products "legal"? |
| Absolutely. Kaleidescape Systems remain fully licensed and 100% legal. No-one has ruled that Kaleidescape is in breach of the CSS License. We continue to sell Kaleidescape Systems, develop innovative products, and provide excellent service to our customers. |
| 3. Would it help for Kaleidescape to offer Internet Content Delivery so that our clients can purchase licensed content without having to import it from DVDs? |
| Yes, it would help. The M-class players, which can import and play both DVD and Blu-ray content, will in the future be able to play content from other sources, including the Internet. However, most of today's content is available only on DVD, and people want to be able to enjoy what they already own. |
| 4. Where can I read about the ongoing proceedings? |
| Please go to http://www.kaleidescape.com/legal-update (this page.) |
| 5. How do fair use rights affect this case? |
| This is a case of California contract law, and is not a copyright case. So, although we believe our customers have a fair use right to import their CDs and DVDs into the Kaleidescape System, this fact has little to do with the DVD CCA lawsuit. |
| 6. How is this case related to the injunction issued against Real DVD? |
| It is unrelated. The Real DVD case is different in many ways. The Real DVD product is a PC software product, subject to different license terms than Kaleidescape. Also, the Real case involves copyright claims while the Kaleidescape case is strictly a breach of contract claim. |
| 7. What is Kaleidescape's position on the rights of content owners? |
| Kaleidescape believes firmly in intellectual property rights. Kaleidescape itself has invested heavily in its own intellectual property, and depends on the protection of its software under copyright law and the protection of its many inventions under patent law. Kaleidescape has even been granted patents on content protection inventions. However, Kaleidescape does not believe that the rights of content owners go so far that they should be allowed to suppress innovation and deny fair use rights to consumers. We are disappointed that the DVD CCA and the Hollywood studios feel otherwise. |
Kaleidescape and the Kaleidescape logo are trademarks of Kaleidescape, Inc.; they are registered in the United States and may be registered in some jurisdictions. Other trademarks and trade names are owned by third parties and may be registered in some jurisdictions.