“A Manhattan judge indicated Tuesday he was likely to
declare what is seemingly banal computer code as a form of
expressive content, a distinction that may help bring it First
Amendment protection.“
“But if U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rules the way he
appeared to be leaning in court, it’s likely to create some ripples
in the DVD industry. The computer code the judge may opt to protect
would make it possible for anyone to copy DVDs.”
“Kaplan heard the conclusion of testimony Tuesday in a case
brought by the motion picture industry to try to stop DVDs from
being copied on computers. He will decide the case without a jury
after lawyers submit papers in August.”
“The judge must decide in the civil case whether eight major
movie studios can stop Eric Corley from making software available
online or posting links to it so that people can copy films that
are in DVD format.”