Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Studios Sue to Stop 'Family-Friendly' DVD Service
Yahoo ^ | 11/15/10 | Eriq Gardner

Posted on 11/15/2010 8:11:19 PM PST by DemforBush

Hollywood is once again going to battle with the puritans.

A coalition of major studios including Paramount, Warner Bros., MGM, Disney, Universal and Fox has filed a lawsuit against a defendant who has taken movies, altered them to be free of objectionable content, and is distributing them to consumers as "family-friendly."

(Excerpt) Read more at blog.movies.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: copyright; culturewars; editing; hollywood; movies
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-103 next last
To: Sto Zvirat
If a religious group didn't like a newspaper and they went out and took all the prints and covered up certain words and removed certain stories and put the papers back on the rack...

Strawman. Once again, this is a private transaction between two willing parties. No one is forcing their views upon anyone.
81 posted on 11/15/2010 10:59:22 PM PST by Egg (It's a Keynesian thing; we wouldn't understand.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

I think that once you paid for the item, then you have private property rights that should supersede the copyright law as long as you are not selling it or profiting from it or presenting it as something it is not for profit or fraud.

By purchasing the product, it becomes your private property and in a free country, you should be able to alter it...break it....burn it.... It makes no sense for the copyright law to go beyond their profit motive to deny one’s freedom with one’s own private property. That idea that a person has no rights over their private property goes against everything this country is about.


82 posted on 11/15/2010 10:59:22 PM PST by savagesusie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: DemforBush

There was a case not too long ago about a man who marketed a special DVD player that would accept “scene skipping” lists and would duly skip the indicated scenes. I do not know how that one turned out (since the user could always play the DVD straight on that same machine), but making edited copies under a permission that only covers copies sounds like it is out of bounds under current copyright law.


83 posted on 11/15/2010 11:03:28 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: savagesusie

I’m the parent of a six-year-old, so we’ve been dealing with the question of “outside influences” for a little while now. He will always be exposed to values and material with which we don’t agree, and we are working hard to teach him what OUR values are so he can make informed, moral choices and decisions. I really don’t want ANY authority making those choices for me and my family; I want to control those decisions myself.

Isn’t that an essentially American value?


84 posted on 11/15/2010 11:06:48 PM PST by TexNewMex
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

What ever got changed in Congress WITHOUT starting with cognitive dissonance?


85 posted on 11/15/2010 11:08:31 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

“I agree it it”

Driven to ungrammatical distraction, I see.


86 posted on 11/15/2010 11:11:25 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: xjcsa; 2banana

>> No, but I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.

That depends on the percentage of suitable content the DVD contains. If nothing, then...


87 posted on 11/15/2010 11:15:26 PM PST by Gene Eric (Your Hope has been redistributed. Here's your Change.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Gene Eric

Haha...well played...


88 posted on 11/15/2010 11:21:58 PM PST by xjcsa (Ridiculing the ridiculous since the day I was born.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 87 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

So, you are for censorship? I thought you called me Taliban because I believe in censoring art in civil societies.

I believe that once a person buys an item, even if it is copyrighted, that person’s private property rights supersede the copyright law as long as it is not used for profit—copied and sold, although he could sell it at a garage sale. I think the person can alter it, burn it, destroy it and be within his rights, since freedom in our country means the ability to have private property and have the freedom to do with it what you desire.

We really become fascist when we decide what a person can do in the privacy of their own home which absolutely undermines the meaning of freedom. Copyrighted material has a right to profit and be compensated for, but no right to dictate how it is personally used....if they want to use it for toilet paper, sobeit.


89 posted on 11/15/2010 11:26:39 PM PST by savagesusie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: TexNewMex

Outside influences become very pervasive and powerful, especially through movies. Dobson and many evangelicals know how hard it is to raise a child in todays world. All studies pointed to the secular humanist moral relativism which is in all the public school curricula and extremely hard to avoid. It is so pervasive that Dobson told Christian parents to take their kids out of the public school system a decade ago.

The movies and TV are also conduits of the atheism. It is very subtle, but to be a successful parent you have to be able to identify what cultural Marxism is and who founded it—what Freudian Marxism is designed to do (it established political correctness) and that it is inserted into our culture to destroy family and Christianity.

You need to have total control, that is why I think parents should be able to edit videos, so not expose children to an objectionable words or idea. Ideas and worldview is everything! There will always be some things that get through, which is ok—good for learning...it is just the 24/7 messages that are so prevalent in our pop culture today that destroy the ability to believe in God and have healthy relationships, especially with a mother and father.


90 posted on 11/15/2010 11:44:36 PM PST by savagesusie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 84 | View Replies]

To: savagesusie

The intrusiveness which we see in current copyright legislation was largely pressed by ostensibly panicky publishing interests at the advent of potentially threatening technologies, such as the photocopier, cheap film, consumer grade digital technologies, and the like. Perhaps ironically, it has gotten to the point where the average otherwise fair minded person is on the verge of saying “screw it” to a system that virtually requires your own personal lawyer to watch all the baby steps required to keep your nose clean — and at long last the cheating really is eating into publishers’ bottom line to a non trivial extent.


91 posted on 11/15/2010 11:45:52 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

“So, would you be OK with someone buying James Dobson videos, recutting them to make it a satanic video and selling them and pocketing the money?”

sounds like a Michael Moore or Bill Maher movie


92 posted on 11/15/2010 11:57:57 PM PST by ari-freedom (Islam is at war against America, while America is at the mall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat

“This is about commercial films that are owned by studios and sold and distributed and shown by the studios that OWN the copyrights to them.”

This isn’t the same movie being sold. It was edited. I think one should be allowed to do that.


93 posted on 11/16/2010 12:02:05 AM PST by ari-freedom (Islam is at war against America, while America is at the mall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: Egg

You can alter the DVD in any way you wish, as long as you don’t alter the content.

The content is only licensed to you for personal use, same as software for/on your computer.

The media is yours; the content isn’t.


94 posted on 11/16/2010 12:12:31 AM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: A Satanically Transmitted Disease spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Sto Zvirat
Yes, if I own the copyright to my work, and you alter it and I don’t agree with it, I can call it censorship because you are altering, without my approval, my copyrighted work.

Wow! To think when I wrote notes in my college textbooks I was both a "censor" and anti-art.

Sometimes, after I've read the Sunday paper and put it back together, I put the "C" section in front of the "B" section. OMG!

95 posted on 11/16/2010 12:21:57 AM PST by BigBobber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

There are so many movies that are marketed to kids that just one or two words are just nasty, and sort of ruin an otherwise great movie for me.

What about Bob and A Christmas Story come to mind. (The little boys using horrid language.) I mean, the fudge scene is cute but the kids saying A** to each other is not. When I was an elementary student in the 60’s I dont’ remember kids using profanity like today, so it rings wrong for me there also.

I don’t side with Hollywood on this one. If you buy a book, and mark out the curse words, that’s your business. Can’t you buy a DVD and send it to be edited? To me once you sell it, it’s not yours anymore. And to tell people what they can do with their personal property is leftist.

I would love to be able to do that. “Please take out all the kids cursing, or replace it like TBS does”.

TBS does a great job. I remember watching their edited version of What about Bob, they took out the references to tourettes and changed the kids cursing to slightly gentler words. (Jerk instead of douchebag). And I couldn’t even tell the difference.

That Hollywood insists on people being exposed to nastiness makes me positive they have an truly evil agenda.


96 posted on 11/16/2010 1:01:00 AM PST by I still care (I miss my friends, bagels, and the NYC skyline - but not the taxes. I love the South.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Egg
Once again, this is a private transaction between two willing parties.

But, there is a third party, the owner of the copyright and if they are not willing, you are breaking the law, plain and simple. Past court cases affirm this.

97 posted on 11/16/2010 5:54:16 AM PST by Sto Zvirat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 81 | View Replies]

To: Egg

You are not very good at understanding what copyright infringement is, are you?


98 posted on 11/16/2010 5:56:09 AM PST by Sto Zvirat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 79 | View Replies]

To: ApplegateRanch
The media is yours; the content isn’t.

One could argue that there is no content on a DVD.

The movie you watch on a DVD comes from the interpretation of a series of plastic indentations on the disc. The standard method of interpreting those indentations is what allows one to see a movie. There is no legal authority to force one into interpreting those indentations in the standard way.

When I own the media, do I not also own those indentations? Can I not alter the media in any way I see fit?

Don't misunderstand--I'm not sure I agree with this argument. Of course, I'm not sure yet that I disagree with it either. I can see and understand both viewpoints, but I'm leaning toward the right of the producer/creator to distribute his works as he sees fit--and to control that distribution. I also believe in the right of the purchaser to make any alterations for his own personal use. A purchaser does not have any right to redistribute works of another person/entity--especially for profit.

However, a service such as ClearPlay is perfectly legal and recommended.

99 posted on 11/16/2010 6:18:05 AM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]

To: ApplegateRanch
The content is only licensed to you for personal use, same as software for/on your computer.

The media is yours; the content isn’t.


I've seen plenty of software licensing agreements, but show me a license agreement for any movie you've recently purchased.

The media and the one copy of the content is indeed mine, as defined that it cannot play on more than one player simultaneously or be broadcast openly for (mass) public viewing, which would be a modern day equivalence of theft. As long as I'm not stealing from Hollywood, they have no case here.
100 posted on 11/17/2010 9:57:46 AM PST by Egg (It's a Keynesian thing; we wouldn't understand.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 94 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-103 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson