Hollywood Firms Suffer a Blow in ReplayTV Case

The federal judge presiding over Hollywood’s lawsuit against Sonicblue Inc.’s ReplayTV, a commercial-skipping video recorder, has rejected a novel attempt by the entertainment companies to withhold key documents from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Lawyers for the EFF, an advocacy group that promotes civil liberties online, represent five ReplayTV users who say they have the right to skip commercials and send shows to other viewers.

The major Hollywood studios and TV networks tried to withhold internal documents about their lobbying efforts and finances from the EFF. They argued that the documents would be used to aid the EFF’s own lobbying efforts, even if the court barred public disclosures.

But Friday, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in Los Angeles ordered the companies to hand over the documents.

If the studios had prevailed, EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn said, it could have made it harder for the group to provide free legal services in battles affecting consumers’ rights on the Internet.

Ron Rauchberg, an attorney for five studios and NBC, said his clients simply had been trying to “level the playing field so that EFF did not have unfair advantages” when lobbying.