321 Studios under fire
by Kit

Tuesday, June 15 2004

Major publishers bring lawsuit against company who makes "copy software."

Electronic Arts, Vivendi Universal Games and Atari, Inc. have filed a lawsuit against 321 Studios which claims that the 321 Studios’s Games X Copy software is illegal as it violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and specifically claims that the software “circumvents the technological protection measures used by entertainment software publishers to prevent game piracy.”

Entertainment Software Association (ESA) president Doug Lowenstein stated, “Federal law makes it clear that it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, or sell devices or programs that circumvent technological protection measures built into video games. That's exactly what 321 Studios’ Games X Copy does, and we fully expect the court to grant our request to ban this product."

The suit uses words taken from 321 Studios own website, preserved in a screenshot, to state its case, noting that the maker of Games X Copy proclaimed the software had the ability to “make a perfect backup copy of virtually any PC game,” which “works just like the original,” but “without needing the original disc.”

The three publishers are seeking reimbursement of attorney’s fees, “damages as provided for by law, including, but not limited to, Plaintiff’s lost profits and Defendant’s profits,” as well as “other and further relief as the Court may deem proper and just.”

--- Kit