DGA PRESS RELEASE

An official press release from the DGA with regard to their counter-suit:

DGA responds and counterclaims against Robert Huntsman and CleanFlicks; adds motion picture studios to suit. (September 20, 2002)

Motions also filed to expand counterclaim to include other entities that provide unauthorized altered versions of videocassettes and/or DVDs


Los Angeles (September 20, 2002) – The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today filed an answer to the lawsuit filed against sixteen of its director-members by Robert Huntsman and CleanFlicks of Colorado, L.L.C, as well as a counterclaim to the lawsuit. The answer and counterclaim were filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado.

In addition, the DGA also asked the Court:

* To allow the Guild to "intervene," thereby enabling the DGA to represent the interests of its entire membership;

* To allow the Guild to expand counterclaims to include other companies that engage or contribute to the practice of editing or altering videocassettes and/or DVDs in commerce;

* To allow the Guild to bring in the motion picture studios as necessary parties, citing their role as the copyright holders of films.

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

The sixteen directors named as defendants in the original lawsuit, all of whom will be represented by the DGA, are Robert Altman, Michael Apted, Taylor Hackford, Curtis Hanson, Norman Jewison, John Landis, Michael Mann, Phillip Noyce, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Martin Scorsese, Brad Silberling, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Betty Thomas and Irwin Winkler.

According to the documents filed with the court, the film altering entities are renting, selling, or distributing versions of movies, which neither the Guild's members nor the studios authorized, and which are altered versions of members' works. In the counterclaim, the DGA states that these entities are in violation of the Lanham Act, which is a federal statute that prohibits false advertising, trademark infringement, and unfair competition, and has been applied to protect an artist's right not to be associated with an unauthorized, edited version of his or her work.

In addition, the DGA charges the companies with trademark dilution under federal law and unfair competition under California law.

"What these companies are doing is wrong, plain and simple," said DGA President Martha Coolidge.

"It is wrong to cut scenes from a film –just as it is to rip pages from a book—simply because we don't like the way something was portrayed or said, then resell it with the original title and creator's name still on it." Coolidge continued. "It is wrong to circumvent the studios, who are the copyright holders, and the director, who is the film's creator—all in the name of turning a profit. It is unethical, it is shameful, and the DGA will aggressively pursue these claims.

In its counterclaim, the DGA and its director plaintiffs are asking the Court to grant a permanent injunction to stop the defendants from wrongfully distributing unauthorized versions of feature films that they have edited to remove content and language.

Following are descriptions of what the defendants are doing:

* CleanFlicks sells, distributes, and/or offers in commerce, versions of feature films that have been edited by CleanFlicks to remove portions of the films. Through the cleanflicks.com website, CleanFlicks sells edited videos and DVDs; through the mycleanflicks.com website, MyCleanFlicks rents edited videos and DVDs. CleanFlicks also offers edited videos in its chain of video stores throughout California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Oregon. Like Video II, CleanFlicks removes content through cut edits and volume muting.

* Video II is editing films to offer "E-rated" video versions of new releases, which are then provided to grocery stores in Utah. Corporate record filings and previous news accounts list Glen Dickman as the President of both Video II and J.W.D. Management.

* MovieMask, produced by Trilogy Studios, is software that consumers can purchase online then download into their computer. The software "masks" or filters frames either by editing scenes or dropping out language. On the moviemask.com website, Trilogy Studios boasts that future upgrades will have the ability to superimpose new images, words, advertising or other material during the playback of the DVD. The software "masks" are currently available for 41 films, though the company says it plans to increase its library on an ongoing basis.

* ClearPlay, like MovieMask, markets movie-filtering software that can be downloaded from the Internet. The company currently offers software filters for over 150 DVDs and according to its website adds approximately 25 titles per month. The software instructs the DVD player when to skip over or mute portions of the film in order to filter out specific content. ClearPlay is offered on a monthly paid subscription basis.

* Family Shield Technologies is the maker of a product called MovieShield. MovieShield consists of three separate electronic devices: One device is connected between a VCR or DVD player and television set. A second device is portable and is used to transfer specific movie information. A third device is connected to a computer to download information into the transfer device. MovieShield uses a "patent pending" technology to determine which scene is being played in the movie. Then, using a database of timing information, MovieShield determines when to mute the sound and/or blank the video screen. The "shielding" is broken into eight different categories. According to their website, these categories include: "vain references to Deity; minor language; major language; nudity; sexual situations; immodesty; violence; and gore."

* Clean Cut, like CleanFlicks, sells, distributes, and offers, via the Internet, versions of feature films that have been edited by CleanFlicks to remove portions of the films. The videos and DVDs sold and rented by Clean Cut have been edited, without authorization, to remove content they consider "objectionable." Clean Cut offers its products via the Internet at www.cleancutcinemas.com.

* Family Safe and its affiliated entity or alter ego EditMyMovies, rent and sell edited videos via the www.familysafemedia.com and www.editmymovies.com websites. Family Safe and EditMyMovies also offer a software product called "TVGuardian," which masks or filters language of movies during their VCR playback, and provide this software in DVD players available for sale via the Internet.

* Family Flix, and its affiliated entity or alter ego Play It Clean, sell, distribute, and offer via the Internet, versions of feature films that have been edited by to remove "objectionable" portions of the films, similar to CleanFlicks. Family Flix and Play It Clean offer their products via the Internet at www.familyflix.com and www.playitclean.com.

UTAH STORES ARE CLEANING UP BY EDITING SMUT FOR FILMS

BY BRADY SNYDER / Aug 2, 2001
The Deseret Morning News

Stop with the Utah County jokes already.

It seems the taste for sanitized versions of Hollywood films extends well beyond Happy Valley. Stores that rent edited PG-13- and R-rated videos are blooming in Davis County, St. George, Idaho, Arizona and -- perhaps the unlikeliest of places -- Las Vegas.

Editing scenes that include sex, violence and profanity from popular films has become such a promising venture that competition is cropping up. That doesn't surprise Ray Lines, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who began CleanFlicks Video Co-Op Club late last year.

"There's 120,000 Mormons that live in that community," Lines said of the Las Vegas success. "Not to mention the Christian community. This is not just a Mormon issue."

Since opening in Pleasant Grove, Lines has expanded to Orem and Provo. He also edits videos for franchise-type stores in Tooele, St. George, West Valley City, Las Vegas, Mesa, Ariz.; and Rexburg, Idaho.

And now a competitor has entered the field.

Earlier this month, Braxton Schenk, also a Mormon, opened Layton's Clean Cut Videos, which similarly rents edited videos to its members.

Like Lines, Schenk expects to expand mightily; he's looking into opening stores in Brigham City, North Ogden, Roy, Kaysville, Farmington and Bountiful.

"The neat thing about it is that we've rented to several families that aren't LDS at all. They have very similar beliefs in the way they don't want to watch some of that garbage that's out there," said Schenk, a Washington native. "I've been really impressed by the moral values of this area. Especially from the teenagers. We've had teenagers come in and talk their parents into buying a membership."

Amidst all the success, a backlash, or copyright lawsuit, from Hollywood studios has been absent.

Lines has been featured in a New York Times article and has appeared on NBC's Today Show. Still, despite the widespread publicity, no one has asked him to stop.

University of Utah film historian William Siska says that just because the editing is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.

"If the video stores were really guardians of morality, they would really toe the line as far as what fair business practices are," Siska said.

The stores are profiting off someone else's work, and, if not illegal, it's wrong, Siska said.

Lines and Schenk maintain they are legit since they pay retail price for every video, which, after editing, will be devoid of graphic violence, sex and profanity -- including taking the Lord's name in vain.

The pair maintain Hollywood studios benefit from their businesses since they sell R- and PG-13-rated videos that wouldn't otherwise be purchased.

Still, editing raises concerns about maintaining a filmmaker's artistic vision.

"I guess it depends on what film you're talking about," said Sharon Swenson, who teaches film history and theory at Brigham Young University.

Some films exist only to make money or entertain. Such pictures, Swenson says, would suffer little from editing.

"Now if it's art, then that's another story," she said.

But for now, without lawsuit or much complaint, the clean video stores flourish.

Schenk expects to have edited DVDs in two months, and Lines plans for 10 more Utah stores by the end of next year.