LOS ANGELES — The Motion Picture Assn. of America and Sigma Designs have announced an amicable settlement in the breach-of-contract lawsuit that the MPAA filed against Sigma Designs Aug. 23.
The suit claimed that the Milpitas, Calif.-based Sigma Designs breached the Content Control System (CSS) license agreement with the DVD Copy Control Assn. The MPAA had sought an injunction against Sigma Designs, recovery of costs up to $100,00 and an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses up to $2 million.
The MPAA said that chips manufactured by Sigma Designs were found in DVD players that were not authorized licensees, which allowed for copyrighted material to be illegally copied.
Now, the MPAA will be working with Sigma Designs on device testing procedures to ensure that content is protected.
Dan Robbins, chief technology counsel for the MPAA, said in a statement: “I believe that Sigma has the right intentions and I am looking forward to moving ahead with a cooperative relationship.”
Thinh Tran, chairman/CEO of Sigma Designs, said in a statement: “As a technology supplier, we are very respectful of intellectual property and are strong believers in content protection. Beyond the use of industry standards such as CSS, we are working with partners to develop secure media processors that contain the most powerful DRM protection mechanisms in the industry.”
A separate breach-of-contract lawsuit against the Taiwan-based MediaTek has not yet been resolved.
