Blogger Joe Gratz on July 9 reported that United States District Court for the District of Colorado has found that a company called "CleanFlicks" infringes copyright.
CleanFlicks, without authorization of copyright owners, has been creating and renting censored DVD-R copies of movies that it created through modification (censoring) of the original audio and/or video. One of CleanFlicks' arguments was that its censoring was "fair use" and that it was not harming the studios since it has been buying an original copy for each censored copy it produced and rented.
The court tossed out the "fair use" argument and declared CleanFlicks' actions were infringement.
This is is also a win for artists' rights. If I create a work, and you -- without my permission -- modify it and resell it, you are distributing something other than what I created. You are violating my rights as a copyright owner.
I'm still of the opinion that it is the responsibility of a parent to control what his or children watch and hear. I just don't think that this includes subsidizing copyright infringement and the violation of artist rights.
