Finally “Edited” Movie Stores Will Close
By Jeffrey | December 5, 2007
In this incredibly biased Deseret News story it is reported that the few remaining stores in Utah that trample on filmmakers art will have to close.
Thompson explained that about two weeks ago, he got a letter from an attorney in New York who represents Warner Brothers, Sony, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount movie studios, telling him his edited movie rental and sales business was breaking copyright law and he had to close.
Obviously, the fundamentalists need to keep hearing this: Movies are a form of art. As such, it is not right for a 3rd party to take said ‘art’ and change it to satisfy themselves or the customer. Art is art is art. If you don’t like what is being presented then don’t watch, look at, or listen to it.
Besides that, Fair Use states that you have every right to buy the original DVD and edit it however you’d like for yourself, as long as it stays a personal copy. But businesses can not do it. Why? Because by doing so they are misrepresenting the artwork, and infringing on the copyright of the creator.
Here’s an example:
That’s a great painting, right? But I don’t like it like that, I prefer it like this:
According to Fair Use I can do that. Heck, I can add in some Sesame Street characters and make her have braces if I want. Anything goes, just so long as it is for personal use.
However, I cannot then sell you that painting in its edited form. Doing so would be a misrepresentation of the original artwork, and violate the copyright holders rights.
It is the same situation as writing a book and having a publisher remove or add select chapters and sell it as your book. It is the same situation as somebody adding offensive scenes into an LDS film and then selling it as that film.
It can’t be done, and shouldn’t be done.
Finally, as far as the studios themselves editing films for television or airline performance, that is completely different. Why? Because they own the copyrights! They decide what is or isn’t edited, and they have complete say over the final cut. It is their work, so they can change it how they see fit.
Using my Mona Lisa example above, it would be similar to Leonardo da Vinci changing the Mona Lisa like I did above, and then presenting that as the Mona Lisa. As the artist, he would have that right.
But I don’t. And neither do businesses.
So thank heavens all the loopholes have been closed and these stores will finally be run out business.
Topics: Rants |
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