Audio Video News

Electronic libertarians with a taste for irony are doing spit-takes with their morning coffee over a patent snafu involving Warner Bros. A German company has sued the studio, claiming it is actively pirating an antipiracy technology.

Medien Patent Verwaltung (never steal from a company with "patent" in its name) filed suit in both the U.S. and Germany against Warner and two other companies in the film distribution business. The company had created a code for marking movies as a means of tracking piracy. In 2003 Medien showed Warner the technology "under strict confidentiality." In 2004 Warner began using it in Europe. Meridian has been trying to get Warner to pay for it ever since.

The plot thickened when it emerged that the patent mentioned in Medien's complaint has the same name (albeit not the same number) as another patent owned by Warner. Medien's lawyer says the mistake will be fixed in an amended complaint.

See The Hollywood Reporter.