Directors guild sues over editing of movies

Associated Press

Sep 21, 2002 | The Directors Guild of America is suing more than a dozen companies that delete scenes depicting violence, sex and profanity from Hollywood films, saying the process violates federal copyright law.

The editing is "a direct frontal assault on all aspects of ownership and creativity," said Jay Roth, national executive director of the guild.

In a federal lawsuit, the guild is requesting an injunction against 13 companies that either rent movies that have been edited or sell software that allows consumers, through computers or DVD players, to edit movies themselves.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver, was a response to a suit filed last month by Clean Flicks of Colorado, which is part of the Utah-based rental chain Clean Flicks. The company had asked a judge to rule its practice legal, despite protests from several well-known directors, including Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg.

In a letter published in Directors Guild's monthly magazine, guild President Martha Coolidge, said the controversy centers on a moral question.

"Is it right to take finished films that have been created by someone else, change them to suit your whims, then profit by the commerce of these grossly altered products -- and at the same time portray these versions as still being the works of their original directors?" Coolidge asks.

Clean Flicks argues it doesn't violate copyright law because it purchases a new copy each time it edits a film and because customers are technically owners of the videos through a cooperative arrangement. The edited tapes also carry a disclaimer that the film was edited for content, the company says.

In addition to Clean Flicks, the guild seeks to include in its counterclaim: Video II; Video II President Glen Dickman; J.W.D Management Corporation; Trilogy Studios, Inc., which is the producer and distributor of MovieMask software; ClearPlay, Inc.; Family Shield Technologies, LLC, which is the manufacturer of a product called MovieShield; Clean Cut Cinemas; Family Safe Media; MyCleanFlicks; EditMyMovies; Family Flix, U.S.A. L.L.C.; and Play It Clean Video.

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