Did Warner Bros. pirate antipiracy technology?

[The Straight Story]

Did Warner Bros. pirate antipiracy technology?

Warner Bros. has been sued for stealing an antipiracy technology patent.

The claim comes from a German company called Medien Patent Verwaltung. According to new infringement lawsuits filed against Warners, Technicolor and Deluxe in New York and Germany, MPV says that in 2003, it introduced the studio to a method of marking films with a distinctive code so it could track back sources of piracy to the exact theater in which an unauthorized copy originated. MPV says it has been trying to get Warners to pay for use of the technology since it allegedly began incorporating the invention in prints throughout Europe in 2004.

“We disclosed our anti-piracy technology to Warner Bros. in 2003 at their request, under strict confidentiality, expecting to be treated fairly," MPV says in a statement. "Instead, they started using our technology extensively without our permission and without any accounting to us. However, we had taken care to obtain patents to protect MPV's technology, and we are now in a position where we must assert our rights.”

Warner Bros. declines to comment on the dispute. But we've discovered that MPV made a little mistake in its New York lawsuit.

http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/

[Touchdown]

1. The first time I saw this code was in Master And Commander.

So a few years ago. I thought I noticed braille on the screen for a blip. I thought it was just a modern version of a cigarette burn.

If Warner isn't paying for it, they are allowed to. They are a corporation. They can do no wrong, even green lighting Superman Returns.

[notesdev]

2. Hope they put Warner Bros. out of business

There's no entertainment company more notorious for mistreating creative artists.