## Facts

- RealNetworks, Inc. developed and sold streaming-media software that let content owners distribute audio and video over the internet in the RealMedia format.
- RealNetworks’ system included a security feature called “Copy Switch,” which allowed content owners to disable downloading so end users could stream content but not save local copies.
- RealNetworks also used an authorization procedure as part of its streaming and playback process.
- Streambox, Inc. sold software products that processed and recorded streamed audio and video.
- Streambox created “Streambox VCR,” a tool that enabled users to access and download copies of RealMedia files.
- RealNetworks alleged the Streambox VCR bypassed both Copy Switch and the RealMedia authorization procedure, allowing downloads even when the content owner had disabled downloading.
- Streambox also sold “Streambox Ripper,” a tool used in connection with capturing and converting RealMedia content into other formats (such as common audio-file formats).
- RealNetworks sued Streambox asserting, among other claims, violations of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention/anti-trafficking provisions and sought emergency injunctive relief.
- The court first entered a temporary restraining order and then considered whether to issue a preliminary injunction pending final resolution.

## Issues

1. Whether RealNetworks showed a likelihood of success that Streambox trafficked in technologies that circumvented “effective” access controls or rights controls in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2) and/or § 1201(b).
2. Whether Streambox’s asserted fair-use and Sony/Betamax-style “substantial non-infringing uses” arguments defeated RealNetworks’ request for preliminary relief under the DMCA.
3. Whether RealNetworks demonstrated irreparable harm and that the balance of hardships and public interest favored preliminary injunctive relief against Streambox’s products.

## Decision

- The court granted RealNetworks’ motion for a preliminary injunction as to Streambox’s Streambox VCR and Streambox Ripper.
- The injunction barred Streambox, pending the litigation, from manufacturing, distributing, or otherwise trafficking in the VCR and Ripper.
- The court found RealNetworks likely to succeed on the merits of its DMCA claims because the evidence showed Streambox’s products were designed and marketed to bypass RealNetworks’ Copy Switch and authorization procedure.
- The court concluded RealNetworks would likely suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction, including harm to its ability to offer a streaming platform that content owners could trust to limit downloading and copying.
- The court did not grant the same injunctive relief as to Streambox’s “Ferret” product on the preliminary record (or did not treat it as supporting the same DMCA showing as the VCR and Ripper), focusing the injunction on the VCR and Ripper.

## Legal Principles

- A “technological measure that effectively controls access to a work” under 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a) can include software-based controls in a streaming system that limit access to streaming playback and block downloading through features such as Copy Switch and related authorization steps.
- Under § 1201(a)(2), trafficking liability may be shown where a product is primarily designed for circumvention, has only limited commercially significant use other than circumvention, or is marketed for circumvention of an access-control measure.
- Under § 1201(b), trafficking liability may also arise where a product circumvents a technological measure that effectively protects a copyright owner’s rights (such as measures aimed at preventing unauthorized copying).
- At the preliminary-injunction stage, a court may issue relief where the plaintiff shows a likelihood of success on the DMCA device-trafficking claim and a likelihood of irreparable harm; harm may include loss of control over access/copy limits and damage to licensing relationships and the plaintiff’s business model.
- The court treated Streambox’s fair-use and Sony/Betamax arguments as insufficient to defeat preliminary relief where the evidence indicated the challenged products’ key function was bypassing technological measures that content owners relied on to prevent downloading.

## Conclusion

RealNetworks obtained a preliminary injunction under the DMCA because it showed that Streambox’s VCR and Ripper were designed and marketed to bypass RealNetworks’ Copy Switch and authorization controls, enabling users to download RealMedia streams even when downloading was disabled, and that this threatened irreparable harm to RealNetworks’ streaming model and relationships with content providers.


RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc., No. 2:99CV02070, 2000 WL 127311 (2000)