A few years ago some outfit tried to sell or rent copies of “Titanic” with the sex/nudity edited out. IIRC, this was against some law.
I came across this site today: http://www.cleanfilms.com/ which seems to do the same thing.
Is my memory correct that there is a law against doing this kind of thing?
I think the law was against the editing in general, not the fact that it was editing “naughty bits”, in case that wasn’t clear.
I believe it was an issue of copyright infringement.
Here is a press release from the Director’s Guild of America, apparently in response to being sued by Clean Flicks.
There are two distinctly different things going on here. One is the edited video tapes where the “offending” portions are completely taken out. The Hollywood types have attacked this as an unauthorized copyright infringement. They seem to have some legal grounds here. (No similar concerns have been raised about the edited airline and TV versions since there is real money involved there.)
The other issue is special edited DVD’s where the entire original content remains but you have the option to skip or mute the offensive parts. Here, the objections seem to have very little legal basis since the full content still exists.
I gotta say that I wouldn’t mind having the option to buy a less gory/less gross version of most popular films. I don’t mind the sex so much as I mind the blood. Of course, this gets into IMHO/CS territory…
Keep in mind that the legal resolution of this issue is far from over. On most points, the copyright holders seem to have the upper hand. If it’s your creation, you get to say what happens to it. If you don’t allow that type of editing, that (almost) ends it right there.
But there is “fair use”, “making backups” and other weasely issues to be considered.
I think the thing that will really kill these services legally is the making money issue.
If you decide to “fix” something you bought, you aren’t making money off it. Once making money off of someone else’s copyrighted works comes into play, the legal standards go way up.
I consider it my “right” to adapt computer programs to suit my preferences. I will go in and modify the binaries to get it the way I like it. (None of this is to steal software or somesuch.) But I would never dream of distributing such modified programs, let alone going into business to “edit” other people’s copies. That is just plain unethical.
Note that courts have generally upheld the rights of “first purchasers” to resell their books, records, etc. But if you are selling a unauthorized modified version, you can’t do that. Such versions have to kept out of the marketplace. The only realistic way to do this is to prevent their (commercial) creation.
If you don’t like certain scenes in a movie, don’t buy it! No one is forcing you to buy “Titanic”. (Thank God!)
(Hmm, if you took all the scenes out of “Titanic” I find objectionable, it would be a, let’s see, 30 second movie?)
I have relatives whose church considers movies and TV sinful. They don’t watch either. (Radio is okay. I assume they trust their members to not dial in Howard Stern.) Do what they do. Don’t watch them. Problem solved.
My big problem with the Hollywood types here is that they seem to me complete hypocrites on this issue. These directors seem to have no problem with having their movies ripped apart and heavily edited to show on TV (which produce huge revenures) yet they are objecting to considerably less editing by other organizations.
I have repeatedly had the problem of, having seen a movie on network TV or an airplane, sitting down to watch it on cable TV or a video rental with my children, only to find it to be a steady stream of four letter words.
The issue is simple copyright/licensing.
TV editions are licensed by the copyright holders (read: $), as are airline versions.
If, however I decide to chop up a movie without a licensing agreement to allow me to do so, and then distribute it as “The Film” by ‘Famous director’, I have two problems - I don’t have a license to sell any copies of the movie - original or hacked.
That’s copyright violation.
If I get smart and buy an authorized, licensed tape/dvd for each copy I sell, and thereby am simply re-selling legal copies, I may duck the licensing issue, but: by selling it under the same name as the original, I am diluting copyright/trademark, and creating the definitive “confusion in the marketplace”.
Either way, the pirates are nailed under one theory or the other.
Those offering editing hardware/software, however, may have a loophole - they do nothing to the movie, and simply offer a service which automates what I could do with fast-forward and mute buttons. It will be interesting to see what happens in the case of software which actually overlays an image - they still haven’t cut the copyrighted work, and the presentation is under the owner’s control - can they legally offer a service to do present something which they themselves would be prohibited from offering?
Can you cite something in any licensing agreement for any software you’ve licensed/purchased which confers such a right upon you?
If you are selling an edited work, you are definitely in violation of copyright.
On the other hand, if you are selling a program that plays an unedited DVD in a particular sequence (one which skips the naughty bits), I think you are completely in the clear. Basically, this is automating the process of using your remote to fast-forward through the offensive stuff. I don’t believe the copyright owners have the right to forbid you to do that…
Nope. Whether you make money from something you’ve copied or not is nearly irrelevant. It can be one of several considerations of a fair use defense, but it does not overrule any of the others.
It’s just worth more to a copyright holder to sue if someone is making money, but they can sue you even if you don’t. Since these edited versions are the complete work, fair use doesn’t apply.
The ‘clean’ rental shops were distributing unauthorised edits, no? TV stations and airlines that edit a movie for length or content have an agreement with the copyright holders that lets them do it.
The place in question was only renting out edited films, and they DO purchase a film for each edited copy, according to their website, so that aspect of the question is moot.
They claim that they’re basically a cooperative, making members basically owners of the dvds in question, so the editing is legal. That seems shaky to me, but I don’t understand why anyone would care anyway. Certainly if I was an artist I’d be a little annoyed with folks messing around with my art, but they’re not reselling them, and if people want to watch their movies chopped up, I don’t see why they don’t have the right.
Anyway, the legalities seem tenuous, but I think it’d be kinda dumb for a studio to try to put a stop to it.