The MPAA has filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York, Paramount Pictures v. Load ‘N Go Video, suing a small business for loading DVDs onto personal media players (e.g., iPod Video) on behalf of customers.

Load ‘N Go sells both DVDs and iPods and will load purchased DVDs onto iPods for customers who purchase both. The company then sends the iPod and the original DVDs to the customer. The movie studios’ suit claims that this is illegal, because ripping a DVD (i.e., decrypting it and making a copy) is illegal under the DMCA. The suit also claims that this constitutes copyright infringement.

The Load ‘N’ Go site is currently disabled, noting “We Will Be Back Shortly!”

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the MPAA believes it is just as illegal for you to rip videos to iPod at home.

“This is copyright gone too far,” says EFF’s Fred von Lohmann. “If you buy a DVD, you should be able to make a personal copy of it for your iPod, just like you should be able to make a copy of a CD for your car, without having to ask permission or pay a second time.”

“That’s one of the things fair use is for,” adds Lohmann. “This lawsuit is just the latest example of the entertainment industry taking aim not at “pirates,” but at the legitimate fair use rights of music and movie fans.”