Warner Bros. head spin: lawsuit claims studio pirated anti-piracy patent

We'll let that headline sink in for a second -- it gets even better, we assure you. The story goes as such: German company Medien Patent Verwaltung (MPV) claims that in 2003 it showed Warner Bros. (under a confidentiality agreement) a way to track where exactly a pirated movie came from. One year later, according to the company, Warner started using the same technology without ever providing compensation. Thus, a lawsuit is born -- filed in both New York and Germany against Warner, Technicolor and Deluxe. As bad as it sounds, we can't help but love the irony of such an accusation, but the crème de la crème of all this? The New York lawsuit accidentally cites Warner's patent in place of MPV's. It's being amended now, but think about it: the name of the patent claimed to be a stolen patent was itself stolen by the original patent holder as its own patent. And that's really fun to say out loud.

[Entourage Posted May 27th 2010 1:03AM]

I can't respect these entities.

[zeroinfinity2 Posted May 27th 2010 6:18AM]

@Entourage
'specially not after getting caught in your own web-o'-greed™.

[thompchr Posted May 27th 2010 2:33PM]

@Entourage This reminds me of when Sony BMG's French office got caught with a pirated version of Windows Server a while back. They only got caught because the IT guy called support...

[Ducman69 Posted May 27th 2010 1:04AM]

Warner Bros to MPV: "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

[NeoJew Posted May 27th 2010 1:04AM]

*spits his grog out*
Shiver me timbers!

[Jeff Posted May 27th 2010 1:05AM]

Isn't that like a double negative?

[New Reformation Posted May 27th 2010 1:09AM]

@Jeff

They should know that they shouldn't be using no double negatives.

[Sirobin Posted May 27th 2010 2:04AM]

@Jeff I think it’s a little more than double...

[anothermurph Posted May 27th 2010 1:06AM]

Oh man, so now I know it was the Germans who helped them track the Jonas brothers 3D back to me.

[ShakeyBonez Posted May 27th 2010 1:09AM]

Great Odin's Raven, thee Irony!

[Bratyr Posted May 27th 2010 1:48AM]

@ShakeyBonez
I always though Odin had two ravens.

[Sirobin Posted May 27th 2010 2:05AM]

@ShakeyBonez Son of a bee-sting!

[richb93 Posted May 27th 2010 1:53PM]

@ShakeyBonez I'm Ron Burgundy?

[MFrasier Posted May 27th 2010 1:10AM]

I think you guys are intentionally making this more confusing than it is.

[dark star Posted May 27th 2010 1:15AM]

Free is always good. Right Warner bros?

[jordanjay29 Posted May 27th 2010 1:20AM]

This must be what going mad feels like.

[DeviantmacG Posted May 27th 2010 1:25AM]

MGM is better anyways haha

[Sicarius123 Posted May 27th 2010 1:38AM]

I lolled

[RobertBruce1975 Posted May 27th 2010 1:46AM]

You bastards. You've divided by zero! You've destroyed us all!

[The WC Posted May 27th 2010 1:50AM]

And that, students, is what we call an ouroboros lawsuit. Any questions?

[Amusednow Posted May 27th 2010 1:53AM]

BSA audit tip line is what? and a list of MPAA members is where?
Think I know what I'll do on my day off tomorrow.

[Bones3D Posted May 27th 2010 1:58AM]

Wow... I hope the warners didn't contract an SKG from all this.

[abedinthehouse Posted May 27th 2010 2:08AM]

I think idk if you are making this more complicated because hell IT IS fun to say out loud, I said it at least 3 times.

[r3loaded Posted May 27th 2010 2:33AM]

What's new? We all know that they're the real pirates. Similarly, record labels screw their artists out of much of the sales revenue.

[coolbone Posted May 27th 2010 2:35AM]

I just spent the past 2 hours learning how to solve a Rubik's cube from youtube and it took this article to make my head spin. Wow, WB, wow...

[WilliamNighthawk Posted May 27th 2010 3:49AM]

@coolbone It took you 2 hours to learn how to solve a rubik's cube?

[coolbone Posted May 27th 2010 10:04AM]

@WilliamNighthawk Ahem...it was my first time and I had a little too much to drink...what do you expect! Maybe it was the C2H6O that made my head spin... ;-)

[Imran Posted May 27th 2010 2:38AM]

What is this I don't even

[H264 Posted May 27th 2010 3:15AM]

@Imran
finish sentences.

[zeroinfinity2 Posted May 27th 2010 7:27AM]

@H264

-internets for you, sir.

[fast Posted May 27th 2010 3:26AM]

...major brain knot.

[Parody Posted May 27th 2010 5:34AM]

Head asplode

[Zhukov Posted May 27th 2010 7:18AM]

.....The Aristocrats!

[Fero Posted May 27th 2010 10:15AM]

@Zhukov
haha classic

[wsansewjs Posted May 27th 2010 8:05AM]

oh the humanity!

[theSleeper Posted May 27th 2010 8:52AM]

That's hypocrisy, not irony.

#corrections

[BigJayDogg3 Posted May 27th 2010 9:08AM]

@theSleeper

No, its irony. A technology to prevent anti-piracy was pirated.

[Shooter McGavin Posted May 27th 2010 1:38PM]

@BigJayDogg3

It's both since WB decided to pirate the technology to catch pirates.

[theSleeper Posted May 27th 2010 4:35PM]

@Shooter McGavin
I should have clarified, the overall story/situation is ironic, but in no way was WB's act of pirating anti-piracy technology ironic. It was hypocritical, nothing more.

[hvakrg Posted May 27th 2010 9:14AM]

I guess the licence for a program like this could be something like $1.000.000. Now let's do some MPAA math, if someone pirates a movie that's $50.000 a movie that normally costs $25. So that's a $2.000 markup.

WB should pay $2.000.000.000 for this.

[hvakrg Posted May 27th 2010 9:14AM]

@hvakrg $2.000 markup should be 2.000%.

[PrinceAli Posted May 27th 2010 11:03AM]

doesn't WB own AOL which owns engadget? Where's the disclaimer!

[jasev01 Posted May 27th 2010 11:51AM]

Dear Medien Patent Verwaltung,
If you are out there I am an excellent IP attorney and I want to help you and be on this team so bad. Please if there is any way I can do anything to help please contact me.

[Bud92 Posted May 28th 2010 12:32AM]

bon chance