Current law in the US seems to fall on the side of the studios on this. Although for a period of time, primarily between the time of the VHS editing of Titanic, the rise of cleanflicks and the boom in edited video and edited dvd sales during the early 2000’s, this seemed to be a legal gray area, part of the settlement the director’s guild of america was cut in an attempt by the directors and the studios to create a legal precedent that would create a body of case law to protect the DVDs from ‘unlawful’ copying and editing.
People still buy edited dvds though — both from old stock that was closed out as part of the settlement agreement with the studios, from private collections of edited dvds, and from new movies that are being edited from time to time for retail outlets, movie rental clubs, and those that continue to sell edited movies, either outside to US, or in protected enclaves of Idaho, Utah or Colorado where the conservative Christian and Mormon (LDS) Church members continue to purchase edited versions of Hollywood’s latest DVD releases.
Most all of the vendors of edited movies and dvds have long since liquidated their stock of family friendly clean movies and been forced to close their doors forever or radically adjust their business models. While the demand remains, it seems, that people will continue to look for ways to get low priced quality family entertainment for their families — even if it means bending a few laws.
Polls conducted by abc news are suprisingly evenly split on the topic of legality. However, many seem to believe that is OK to personally edit a dvd for home use — as it is the equivalent of automating the process of fast fowarding and muting the movie during sensitive scenes with graphic sex, violence, nudity or profanity. There are companies who will show you how to edit your own movies for personal viewing as well. At the end of the day, for the fiercely independent minded, libertarian bending conservatives that make up the bulk of edited dvd consumers, the matter of choice and control for some families seems to supersede other concerns.
Buy Edited DVDs
Is buying edited DVDs legal?
Current law in the US seems to fall on the side of the studios on this. Although for a period of time, primarily between the time of the VHS editing of Titanic, the rise of cleanflicks and the boom in edited video and edited dvd sales during the early 2000’s, this seemed to be a legal gray area, part of the settlement the director’s guild of america was cut in an attempt by the directors and the studios to create a legal precedent that would create a body of case law to protect the DVDs from ‘unlawful’ copying and editing.
People still buy edited dvds though — both from old stock that was closed out as part of the settlement agreement with the studios, from private collections of edited dvds, and from new movies that are being edited from time to time for retail outlets, movie rental clubs, and those that continue to sell edited movies, either outside to US, or in protected enclaves of Idaho, Utah or Colorado where the conservative Christian and Mormon (LDS) Church members continue to purchase edited versions of Hollywood’s latest DVD releases.
Most all of the vendors of edited movies and dvds have long since liquidated their stock of family friendly clean movies and been forced to close their doors forever or radically adjust their business models. While the demand remains, it seems, that people will continue to look for ways to get low priced quality family entertainment for their families — even if it means bending a few laws.
Polls conducted by abc news are suprisingly evenly split on the topic of legality. However, many seem to believe that is OK to personally edit a dvd for home use — as it is the equivalent of automating the process of fast fowarding and muting the movie during sensitive scenes with graphic sex, violence, nudity or profanity. There are companies who will show you how to edit your own movies for personal viewing as well. At the end of the day, for the fiercely independent minded, libertarian bending conservatives that make up the bulk of edited dvd consumers, the matter of choice and control for some families seems to supersede other concerns.