[FYI] Video shops in DVD battle - oder: Was ist Software?

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

[Sowas koennte auch irgendwan in der EU relevant sein - die 
Schrankenbestimmungen fuer "Software" sind wesentlich enger als fuer 
andere Werke.                                          ---AHH]


<http://www.thewest.com.au/20011101/news/state/tw-news-state-home-
sto30431.html>

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Video shops in DVD battle 

MELBOURNE 

CONSUMERS could pay more for DVD rentals if a big distributor gets 
its way.  

Australia's video shops have become the testing ground in a 
potentially far-reaching legal dispute.  

At stake is a reinterpretation of the copyright legislation which 
covers this latest frontier of the home entertainment market.  

The matter, which is before the Federal Court, was instigated when 
the Australian Video Retailers"Association challenged the pricing 
policies of Warner Home Video, one of the big distributors of 
entertainment DVDs.  

Warner releases DVDs to the retail and rental market simultaneously. 
They are colour coded - silver for sale at wholesale for $24 and blue 
for rental at $55.  

The association, which represents about 55 per cent of Australian 
video shops, took the offensive when Warner threatened to sue video 
shops caught renting silver-coded DVDs.  

It argued that under the Copyright Act, Warner could not restrict the 
rental of DVD movies.  

Warner contended that a DVD is a computer program or software and it 
has the right to prohibit or restrict rentals. This has given rise to 
highly complex legal arguments without precedent under Australian and 
United States law.  

The Warner argument centres on the concept that the contents of a DVD 
are pieces of computer software because they are stored in the memory 
of the DVD player and that the discs contain extra software for menus 
and navigation.  

The association has argued that they cannot be considered computer 
software because only a few frames of the movie are stored on the DVD 
player's memory at any one time when it is being played and there is 
no other facility for storage and retrieval of the full movie.  

In addition, it argues that consumers are not thinking of renting a 
computer program when they rent a DVD. They simply want to hire a 
film.  

[...]

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