Paramount Pictures last week became the third major movie studio to license its content for the DivX platform, which includes a proprietary codec and DRM.  The independent, publicly traded studio Lionsgate also signed on to DivX last week.

That makes three out of the six major studios to license content on the DivX platform; Parmount joins Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures.

DivX is sort of an “overlay” format: it is supported on various consumer devices, including DVD players and portables, as well as on PCs and Macs.  There are no DivX-only devices.  The format lends itself to distribution of content both online and on physical media.  The company was founded in 2000 and went public in late 2006.

Many of the big Hollywood studios fear an Apple-dominated digital future and are seeking alternatives.  Now that the studios’ attitudes towards perennial alternative platform provider RealNetworks have turned sour, DivX is emerging as the next viable platform.

DivX has a small share of a small market (digital movie downloads).  Still, it’s probably only a matter of time now until two of the three remaining major studios agree to license the platform.  Fox and Universal may do it, but Disney won’t; Disney tends to have few problems with the idea of an Apple-dominated movie industry.