Is Editing Entertainment Ethical?
In August, Clean Flicks of Colorado filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Denver.
The Utah-based film-editing company filed the suit to ask the government if it is legal to edit movies and provide them for customers. Clean Flicks has more than 70 rental outlets in the Western United States.
The court’s decision will have a tremendous impact on the future of Clean Flicks as well as numerous edited-video outlets on the local level, like Flick’s Club in Logan.
“We have a lot of customers, a large customer base,” said Wade Olsen, manager of Flick’s Club.
Olsen noted the thriving market for edited films in Cache Valley and mentioned his business was strong even with the legal issues facing the Clean Flicks corporation.
While Flick’s Club’s business is strong, some Utah State University students do not agree with the practice of editing films, like Bethy Hilton, a sophomore majoring in political science.
“I don’t think anyone has a right to change what one person has presented in their artistic form,” Hilton Said. “I think if you don’t want to watch that kind of content, call the film makers and get your point across.”
Hilton said she believes film editing is wrong because it is disrespectful to film creators. According to Penny Byrne, professor of media law, there are also legal ramifications in editing films and providing them for rental.
“Copyright law says the holder of the copyright has exclusive use of the work,” Byrne said. “They can then sell rights of the work to others.”
Byrne said there are ways to edit media material that are completely legal but noted that making a profit off edited material is a violation of copyright law.
“If I purchased a video tape, say Star Wars, and I came home and I edit it and show it to my kids in my home, that is legal,” Byrne said. “If I edit the tape, what I may not do is sell that tape to someone else and make a profit from it. I cannot rent it to someone else and make a profit from it.”
Edited film rental stores do not run their business like a typical video rental chain, however.
Edited film chains are ran as clubs which require their members to pay a monthly fee. With club membership, individuals are considered “part-owners” of the edited films. Therefore, the rental outlets are making a profit off club membership fees, not rental charges.
The question of whether or not the setup of Clean Flicks, Flick’s Club and other rental outlets is legal, however, will be up for the courts to answer. Byrne said she thinks the answer will be in favor of film makers.
“I really do think that it’s going to be answered to the dismay of the outlets,” Byrne said.
She said it will likely be answered in the form of a cease and desist order from the courts.
With no action having been taken against the rental outlets so far, proponents of edited films defend the practice of editing and renting for profit.
Cherise Lind, a senior majoring in liberal arts and sciences said editing films is a freedom of choice.
“If they have the right to go ahead and put some of that stuff in the movies, then others have the right to take it out,” Lind said. “It gives people a big option to choose what kind of movies they want to watch.”
Giving the public more viewing options is one of the goals of Flick’s Club, Olsen said.
“You can still go to any other place and get the rated ‘R’ version if you want; we’re just giving people two options instead of one,” he said.
Olsen said his club has as much right to edit films as television stations prior to airing a movie.
Byrne, however, said films that are edited for airlines or television are typically edited in coordination with the copyright holder, something that is not done when edited video outlets edit their own films.
Also, some movies may never be shown on television because large amounts of editing for length and content can possibly destroy the creator’s vision for a film, Byrne said.
For now, the future of edited-film businesses will await the federal court’s decision.
“The Federal Government is not going to run out and shut anybody down,” Byrne said. “We’re not talking about criminal activity; we’re talking about intellectual property rights. Article one, section eight of the Constitution says that Congress shall provide for ways to protect authors, artists and inventors to guarantee that they have the power to control their work.”
Until the court’s decision is made, edited films will remain on the market, which is a good thing to Lindi Brown, a junior majoring in French.
“There is so much trash out there, so much crap, you can find an edited movie and enjoy some good cinema,” Brown said.
Good cinema, perhaps, but is it legal?
-str@cc.usu.edu