Posted on 07/08/2006 9:24:52 PM PDT by BenLurkin
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Sanitizing movies on DVD or VHS tape violates federal copyright laws, and several companies that scrub films must turn over their inventory to Hollywood studios, an appeals judge ruled.
Editing movies to delete objectionable language, sex and violence is an "illegitimate business" that hurts Hollywood studios and directors who own the movie rights, said U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch in a decision released Thursday in Denver.
"Their (studios and directors) objective ... is to stop the infringement because of its irreparable injury to the creative artistic expression in the copyrighted movies," the judge wrote. "There is a public interest in providing such protection."
Matsch ordered the companies named in the suit, including CleanFlicks, Play It Clean Video and CleanFilms, to stop "producing, manufacturing, creating" and renting edited movies. The businesses also must turn over their inventory to the movie studios within five days of the ruling.
"We're disappointed," CleanFlicks chief executive Ray Lines said. "This is a typical case of David vs. Goliath, but in this case, Hollywood rewrote the ending. We're going to continue to fight."
CleanFlicks produces and distributes sanitized copies of Hollywood films on DVD by burning edited versions of movies onto blank discs. The scrubbed films are sold over the Internet and to video stores.
As many as 90 video stores nationwide -- about half of them in Utah -- purchase movies from CleanFlicks, Lines said. It's unclear how the ruling may effect those stores.
The controversy began in 1998 when the owners of Sunrise Family Video began deleting scenes from "Titanic" that showed a naked Kate Winselt.
The scrubbing caused an uproar in Hollywood, resulting in several lawsuits and countersuits.
Directors can feel vindicated by the ruling, said Michael Apted, president of the Director's Guild of America.
"Audiences can now be assured that the films they buy or rent are the vision of the filmmakers who made them and not the arbitrary choices of a third-party editor," he said.
I doubt this will affect Clear Play, as they simply have filters loaded onto the DVD player, and original films are edited as they play by computer.
We love our Clear Play DVD player.
CleanFilms maintains in their inventory one copy of each un-edited film for each copy of the edited film. Certainly must not be a money issue for the studios. In fact, I think a case could be made that they sell more copies because of this arrangement.
Well I had no idea they come in a two pack.
I will ask this question though, isn't it against the law to make a copy of anything the is copyrighted. Even if you burn a copy of your own CD to listen to in your car so the original doesn't get torn up, isn't that against the law?
I understand the FBI will not bust into a car and take someone to jail over a few burned CD's (priorities would be rather mixed up!) but the fact still is, it is against the law to make copies of any copyrighted materials, even if it is solely used for your own personal use.
Buy a Clear Play DVD player. They are wonderful.
Have you seen Cinema Paradiso?
Copyright laws are to protect intellectual property for the sake of the revenue it generates for the owner.
Not because their feelings are hurt that someone is watching what they consider to be a superior version of the work.
This is just narcissistic Hollywood brats throwing a hissy fit, demanding to be loved,"Just the way they are".
So you believe that a person or company cannot purchase something, then change the content? So once it is bought, it still belongs to the seller?
Have the studios allowed that anywhere else? It's important because in this case the studios have already approved the exact same cuts these companies are making in the versions they already sold to network TV and the airlines.
If the museum buys the picture, they can put whatever they want over it. If you buy a book, you can take pages out of it, and resell it. If you buy a movie, you can edit some scenes out of it. All three instances are of an owner changing his property.
That's exactly what the TV version of "Showgirls" does. There are drawn-in tops covering the girls breasts in many a scene. That TV version is "approved by the director and studio."
There is nothing stopping you from purchasing the movie and editting it yourself before showing it to your family. You can't do it and sell it to someone else.
I stopped taking you seriously. Your view is the only one and if someone doesn't agree, you get insulting. You don't debate. You insult and browbeat.
Why is that different?
Because the artist approves the bleep of their song, otherwise it would not get played on the radio and they would not get their royalty. It's probably part of the standard BMI language.
Because you dance around my questions and I ask if OJ killed Nicole I am insulting? I believe I am pretty laid back when it comes to debateing these subjects. You misquote me and then expect me answer your question without mentioning it? Be rational here, please.
The versions sold by these companies have the exact same cuts as the TV and airline versions. Those are "approved" already. Comprende?
1) the radio stations aren't selling the songs; B) it's done with the permission of the record labels (which usually do the radio edits themselves) and III) deleting foul language is required by federal law.
What's to stop anyone from doing that with an original movie from Netflix or Blockbuster? Answer: nothing. So then why should it be any different if the movie comes from CleanFlix than if it comes from Netflix or Blockbuster?
You are such a Rube.
Hollywood laughs at the drug and immigration laws.
But don't violate that copyright law! That takes money out of their pocket.
There's a sucker born every minute.
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