A Copyright Casualty

Cleanfilms.com is no more. Clean films is/was a DVD rental website similar to Netflix but they edit the DVDs that they rent so that they are free of profanity, nudity, and excessive violence. The goal of this is to make films that would otherwise be unsuitable for certain audiences available for everyone. This is a good service that my family has used for several years now and has made renting movies much less of a hassle. Cleanfilms is/was a good company.

Now, it is a violation of copyright laws to edit and rent movies for any reason. Granted, Cleanfilms didn't rob the motion picture association of any money; they kept an original copy of every DVD that they rented out. But, someone in Hollywood didn't want people editing their movies. It seems that there is a right to present smuck to American families, uncensored. Cleanfilms was sued by the motion picture industries and was forced to go out of business. We, once again must subject our families to unpleasant material. This is a travesty.

Why was this done? Copyright law, huge and complicated, grants obscure privilages to the 'creators' of intellectual works and this includes the ability to prevent extension or modification. Basically, some folks in Hollywood decided that they didn't like people privately modifying their viewing experience and took action to prevent it. It has been decided that the artistic falue of smut in movies was important and that it would be a crime to remove it, even if it remained intact in other copies.

This is rediculous. Media outlets shouldn't have that much control over 'their' production. When you 'purchase' a movie, piece of music, etc., it should actually become yours and you should have the right to do with it as you wish. As it is, I don't own my DVDs, or my CDs, those are owned by the companies that produce them. When I 'purchased' those I really only purchased a license. I have no rights over them. I resent this. It destroyed Cleanfilms, an honest company. This shouldn't be. Copyright should go.