Suit Filed Against Record Firms

Two California consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit against the major record companies, arguing that copy-protected CDs are defective products that should not be allowed on the market.

The case pits Universal Music Group, EMI Music Publishing, BMG Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and the Warner Music Group against the law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, which is famed--or, in some quarters, infamous--for bringing class-action cases that seek huge financial penalties.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, seeks either to block the discs or require warning labels identifying them as inferior in quality and hazardous to computers.

Copy-protected discs use a variety of electronic techniques to deter digital copying. Some can’t be played at all on computers and other devices with CD-ROM drives, while others try to confuse the drives so they can’t extract the disc’s data.

“If you use an Apple computer, you can’t even get the disc out of the tray. It requires the time and cost of taking the computer into a repair shop and having it removed that way,” said plaintiff attorney Nicholas Koluncich, who is representing his sister in the case. “At the very least, the labels should make sure they sell a product that actually works.”

Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, called the case “frivolous” and insisted that the music labels have every right to use encryption technology to protect their intellectual property from theft.

“Music creators have the right to protect their property from theft, just like owners of any other property,” Sherman said. “Motion picture studios, and software and video game publishers have protected their works for years, and no one has even thought to claim that doing so was inappropriate, let alone unlawful.”

All of the major record companies have been testing these technologies, often by selling copy-protected discs without disclosing the protection.

With the exception of one soundtrack album released by Universal, none of the labels have done any full-scale releases in the United States of copy-protected discs--at least not that they’ve acknowledged. The main reason is that the discs still have compatibility problems, particularly with computers that don’t run Microsoft’s Windows software, DVD players and high-end sound systems that use CD-ROM drives.

The case was brought by Matthew Dickey of Huntington Beach and Elizabeth Koluncich of San Bernardino, who had purchased copy-protected audio discs and either were unable to make back-up copies of the tunes, or had problems using the discs on their personal computers. They are seeking unspecified financial damages, and an injunction that would force the discs off the market.

To read a copy of the lawsuit, go to www.latimes.com/secureCD