Axing Sex, Swearing From Films Violates Copyright: Court

CBC ^

[steve-b]

Deleting swearing, sex and violence from films on DVD or VHS violates copyright laws, a U.S. judge has ruled in a decision that could end controversial sanitizing done for some video-rental chains, cable services and the internet.

The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by 16 U.S. directors — including Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford and Martin Scorsese — against three Utah-based companies that "scrub" films.

Judge Richard P. Matsch decreed on Thursday in Denver, Colo., that sanitizing movies to delete content that may offend some people is an "illegitimate business."

The judge also praised the motives of the Hollywood studios and directors behind the suit, ordering the companies that provide the service to hand over their inventories....

[new cruelty]

I'm sure Bareback Mountain would be edited down until no footage at all would be left. :)

Just a few inches.

[mtbopfuyn]

After the viewing we were asked to give our views. I stood up and said the sex scene really added nothing to the movie and it would be better off without it.

Good for you! Now, if only more would.

[Hendrix]

"Right. E-mail Mr. Rove with that idea, and let us know what he says. We'll wait here. ;-D"

If he has a brain in his head, he has already recognized the great opportunity this is. If you had a brain, you would too. Do you honestly think this is not a winner for republicans? If so, you are way out of touch with the average family and the majority in this country.

[Politicalmom]

Clear Play machines have setting so that a code has to be input for any movies over a set rating to be played, even with the filters enabled.

Parents have complete control over which filters are used, and what can be watched.

[discostu]

No because part of what copyright is about is protecting the content as well, copyright holders get to decide what modification are made prior to distribution, if they are no longer allowed to do that then they've lost half of why copyright exists, and with that half gone it won't be long before they start losing the money (hey why should you pay somebody for a product that you modified before distributing, it's just as much your product as theirs at that point).

[aruanan]

So a movie can be edited and cleaned up for broadcast on network TV, but not for sale as a DVD or tape?

Yes, that's a good point. The makers of the movies altered for broadcast TV must get a big enough chunk of money up front to satisfy their artistic qualms over the "editing".

[FreedomCalls]

It all comes back to permissions - it may seem like a nicety, but it really does matter. You can chop up a film, and the studios aren't going to notice or come after the TChris household; you're small potatoes.

Now you are implying that it is illegal for TChris to edit his own copy in his own home for his own use just that no one will notice if he does. Is it legal or is it not legal to edit one's own copy in one's own house for one's own personal use?

[Bigg Red]

Context is everything. Sometimes harsh language, sex and violence are a key part of the characterizaion and plot.

&&
Then how were characters and plots developed in the films of yesteryear?

[FreedomCalls]

Perhaps someone could design and market a player that would accept a separate file containing the editing control data for the offensive CD's, and then sell the edit files.

That's what ClearPlay does.

[Hendrix]

"No because part of what copyright is about is protecting the content as well, copyright holders get to decide what modification are made prior to distribution, if they are no longer allowed to do that then they've lost half of why copyright exists, and with that half gone it won't be long before they start losing the money (hey why should you pay somebody for a product that you modified before distributing, it's just as much your product as theirs at that point)."

Your argument falls flat on its face. As long as the creator is paid in full, there is no problem. As long as GM gets paid for its car, I can modify it any way I want.

[lepton]

That's one of my Cardinal rules: never paint clothes on a nude!

Especially with low-cut, revealing, provocative clothes. :)

Oddly enough, my post was altered(I suspect I didn't close an HTML tag) and didn't include my retort.

[Borges]

When you alter a video you are atomically creating a copy of it. The original and the new bowdlerized version.

[L,TOWM]

My sanitized fav was Richard Dawson's "most loyal fan", the sweet little old lady describing Ahhhnold's character in "The Running Man" -- "He's one mean moundofflesh".

[FreedomCalls]

Context is everything. Sometimes harsh language, sex and violence are a key part of the characterizaion and plot.

And sometimes it's put in there gratuitously. The most famous example being ET. When Spielberg realized that it would get a "G" rating and would be thought of as a little kid's movie, he re-shot the dinner scene and added Elliot saying "penis breath" so as to purposefully get a "PG" rating instead.

[MineralMan]

You wrote:

"If his head recognized the great opportunity this is, you would too. Do you honestly think? If so, you are the average family in this country."

Oh, wait...you didn't write EXACTLY that. I removed a little bit of it here and there, but they are all your words. You actually wrote:

"If he has a brain in his head, he has already recognized the great opportunity this is. If you had a brain, you would too. Do you honestly think this is not a winner for republicans? If so, you are way out of touch with the average family and the majority in this country."What I did was alter your words, changing their meaning into something different from what you meant to say. I then reposted it here, pretending that you said something you did not.

Do you see the parallel?

[SAJ]

...fowl language...

Is that all you're grousing about?

(...ducking smoothly, and heading for the exit...)

[MineralMan]

Cars are not copyright protected.

[lepton]

That's because the car example is the same as "your personal copy for fair use". If you start modifying all the cars you can, that's a problem. Your own is fair game.

I wonder if those places that sell pre-Customed vehicles have liscencing arrangements. I've also never heard of a problem with reselling an altered vehicle as long as it passes state safety requirements and is noted as being altered.

[Borges]

There are all sorts of examples where the Production Code ruined endings of movies or watered them down. A Streetcar Named Desire for instance. The ending of Hitchcock's 'Suspicion' makes no sense because the Code insisted that a husband cannot be shown to be cheating on his wife.

[Hendrix]

"Do you see the parallel?"

Do you see that you don't have a point. Either this is a political winner or it is not. It is a winner and the vast majority of families in this country will be for it.