[CedarDave]

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

[antiRepublicrat]

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

If the copyright holder consents, of course. These people did it without permission.

[Squawk 8888]

Money talks. Generally the TV networks offer more $ for broadcast rights so they can get better terms.

[Physicist]

Yes, because the network has obtained permission to do that.

[discostu]

Because the network pays the movie distributor with necessary editing explicitly called out in the contract. You can't modify and re-distribute somebody else's stuff without their permission, that's the most basic concept of copyright.

[newgeezer]

So a movie can be edited and cleaned up for broadcast on network TV

Yes, and that's precisely why I enjoy recording the edited-for-TV versions for my family's video library. ;O)

[Marie]

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

I've always wondered why saying "sh*t" was just too horrible to subject TV viewers to, but it's OK for them to see a guy being impaled. Two people making love is way too much, but seeing a man being shot in the face... ho hum.

[wita]

B I N G O! The remaining question would be, who did the cleaning. Hopefully the lawyers for the defense are as smart as you on this one. Precedence has meaning.

[TheDon]

I wonder if the case went to court as a means to test the law? Most of these companies, if not all, require the customer to purchase the video, then they "clean" it up for the customer. As for rentals, same deal. The company buys the video, then "cleans" it up. The companies can make the case that it is simply providing a service for it's customers. I don't know if that was the argument being made, but whatever it was, this judge didn't buy it.

A solution is for the companies to pay the copyright holders. There is money to be made, why not?

[Yo-Yo]

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

Yes, it can with the permission of the copyright holder.

[dfwgator]

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

They get permission to do so from the copyright holders.

[rattrap]

The TV stations are given permission to edit it from the studio.

[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".