Paramount Pictures Corp. v. REPLAY TV

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND THE COMPLAINT; AND ORDER GRANTING COPYRIGHT OWNERS’ MOTION TO DISMISS ACTION.

This matter is before the Court on two related Motions: the Newmark Plaintiffs’ Motion for Leave to Amend the Complaint (docket # 559), and the Copyright Owners’ Motion to Dismiss the present action (docket # 557). The Court deems this matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78; Lo cal Rule 7-15. Accordingly, the hearing set for January 12, 2004, is removed from the Court’s calendar. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Plaintiffs’ Motion and grants the Copyright Owners’ Motion.

I. Introduction

The Copyright Owners are a number of television and film companies in the entertainment industry. The Copyright Owners sued SONICblue, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary, RePlayTV, Inc., asserting a variety of copyright infringement claims, including contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, based on the development and sale by RePlayTV of a digital video recorder (“DVR”), which enabled consumers to make digital copies of copyrighted television programs. The DVRs are equipped with commercial-skipping…