Two movie sanitizing companies have case dismissed

August 20, 2005

ClearPlay and Family Shield Technologies both manufacture methods for consumers to filter out material that they find offensive or undesirable for viewing by themselves or youngsters. As most of you already know, there is quite an uproar about this tech in Hollywood as they don't like folks tinkering with their creations or altering or editing their films in any way. However, a law just passed in the US that was championed by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), has hampered Hollywood directors from stopping this activity which they claim is a violation of copyright. At least the two above named companies have been given the green light by a Denver, Colorado court to carry on and not worry about being sued for copyright violations.

The Family Movie Act, originally sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, exempts so-called video filtering from trademark and copyright suits as long as the "objectionable" content in movies is removed without altering the film itself.

Utah-based ClearPlay's censoring technology, for example, uses a compact disc that programs DVD players to skip over scenes or language to avoid potentially offensive material.

Eight motion picture studios, the Directors Guild of America and 16 individual directors - including Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg - sued the companies, maintaining that the sanitizing technology was a threat to artistic freedom and a violation of copyright laws.

"What these companies do is legal. Everyone recognizes it's not worth fighting that anymore," said Scott Mikulecky, a Colorado Springs copyright attorney at Sherman & Howard.

The case stems from an August 2002 lawsuit brought by Mikulecky's client, Robert Huntsman, who at the time owned several CleanFlicks video store franchises in Colorado and Idaho.

What might catch our eye too is that surprisingly, not everyone was let off the hook in this lawsuit. Wouldn't you know that even though some third parties can offer this service and provide methods of "cleansing" the discs, other companies such as CleanFlicks that offer both an original and edited version in one package are still in the battle! Those interested may visit this link in order to view the source in it'a entirety. This is some pretty complicated stuff here, can you follow the logic of both sides?

Source: Rocky Mountain News