Directors Guild of America is Fighting Edited Films

BoyPlankton writes "According to this article in the Salt Lake Tribune, film directors are gearing up to battle companies that are making a name for themselves selling/renting out edited films to consumers. The film directors claim that it's censorship and that it's morally, ethically, and legally wrong. The companies doing it claim that consumer rights trump the artists rights in this case, and that the artists don't have the moral ground to stand on because they already edit their films for T.V. and planes. Is this issue going to further erode our rights as a consumer, or will lawmakers take this opportunity to shore them up?"

Comments

Re:My favorite theories...

[dillon_rinker]

3. They're afraid that multiple versions of a tape may cause consumer confusion that weakens demand for videos in general.
This general principle is why so few people are using US quarters these days. It's also why the Pokemon game was so unpopular. It's also why no one went to see the 20th anniversary version of Star Wars, and why no one bought the video version. It's why the sales of DVDs are approximately zero (all those scenes! all those options! too confusing!)

Re:Parents like it

[Erbo]

I'm really looking forward to the mormon version of Debbie Does Dallas. :)

Running time: 30 seconds.

Re:Give consumers what they want!

[Quintin Stone]

"'Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds'?"
"Yes..."
"O-L-S-E-N?"
"Yes...."
"B-I- R-D-S??"
"Yes....."
"Yes, well, we do have that, as a matter of fact...."
"The expurgated version....
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that...?"
"The expurgated version.
"The EXPURGATED version of 'Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds'?!"
"The one without the gannet!"
"The one without the gannet--?! They've ALL got the gannet! It's a Standard British Bird, the gannet, it's in all the books!!!"
"Well, I don't like them...they wet their nests."
"All right! I'll remove it!! (rrrip!) Any other birds you don't like?!
"I don't like the robin..."
"The robin! Right! The robin! (rrrip!) There you are, any others you don't like, any others?"
"The nuthatch?"
"Right! The nuthatch, the nuthatch, the nuthatch, 'ere we are! (rrriiip!) There you are! NO gannets, NO robins, NO nuthatches, THERE's your book!"
"I can't buy that! It's torn!"