Member companies of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) have filed breach of contract lawsuits in U.S. District Court against China-based DVD player manufacturers Gowell Electronics Limited and Nanjing Wanlida Technology Co., Ltd.

The lawsuits assert that Gowell and Wanlida manufacture and sell DVD players that lack appropriate security features used to prohibit the unlawful reproduction and distribution of motion pictures in breach of the Content Scramble System (CSS) license.

The studios are seeking injunctions requiring full compliance with the CSS license agreement and a recall of all products in violation of the CSS license.

The studios have won two injunctions against DVD player manufacturers and six injunctions against DVD chip manufacturers.

The worldwide motion picture industry, including foreign and domestic producers,distributors, theaters, video stores and pay-per-view operators lost $18.2 billion in 2005 as a result ofpiracy ?over $7 billion of which is attributed to Internet piracy and more than $11 billion attributed to hard goods piracy including bootlegging and illegal copying.