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Petition: "Differences between Canadian and U.S. DVD releases (packaging/content)" (1 Viewer)

Josh Dial

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Josh Dial
I'm not too sure about this, but I believe bill 101 appplies to DVDs. That is, if it is possible to have billingual packaing and a french language track, then it must go forward. Again, I might be wrong on this.

cheers!

Josh
 

MichaelPe

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Do you really want to be stuck with P&S, extraless discs, which is what you're going to get from companies like Artisan, when right now you can get superior WS, SEs in Canada (think Ginger Snaps)?
Of course, as Jeff mentioned earlier, it is sometimes not possible to do this due to exclusive Canadian rights to some titles.

My petition is aimed more towards studios like "Paramount" and "Buena Vista", who alter their U.S. versions for release in Canada (e.g. "Zoolander", "The Sixth Sense: Vista Series", ...).
 

Martin Fontaine

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I'm not too sure about this, but I believe bill 101 appplies to DVDs. That is, if it is possible to have billingual packaing and a french language track, then it must go forward. Again, I might be wrong on this.
If I read correctly, if a DVD has a french track on it, it must also be available in a french-only cover, a reversible cover or a billigual cover.

As for any DVD sold in Quebec must contain a french track, it's never gonna happen no matter how much the hardcore quebecois are protesting, denying english speaking people and OSL purists of a movie because it was not dubbed would be the stupidest thing they'd ever do! If this madness was to come true, do you know how much we would get laughed at for making a movie illegal because it was not translated? They would never accept the shame...
 

David Mariez

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Apr 1, 2002
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Just like the petition, this thread is losing the focus of the main problem here and that is, what to do with the billingual covers.

Enough with this "to have or not to have a French track included because of Quality factors". I'll tell you that the U.S. versions will have the Spanish track instead most of the time, so it comes back to the same thing. Also there is no quality loss here now. We have worked too hard with the studios to get the French tracks back in Canada and I am not about to get these kinds of petitions jeopardize this. About content less than 5% of DVDs are different in Canada than in the U.S. and that number is shrinking so for people freaking out, take a pill! As far as the petition goes, what is in it is not even serious as it jumps from one issue to another. If you want to look like an a$$ in front of the studios, go ahead and sign this.

The real issue here, as stated are the covers. Now today I've contacted the studios in Canada and they have started receiving feedback about this. We (The Canadian DVD Users Group) will be submitting all feedback and polls in two weeks. This should give enough time for most to post an opinion.

One last thing. I don't want to insult any people outside of Canada (not my purpose at all) but this is a Canadian problem and not an international one and people outside of the country, if thinking to sign the petitions related, shouldn't be allowed to as they have no real clue as to what the issues are here (whether its for covers, french tracks etc).

In any case, this is a petition I won't sign for the reasons I stated above and the ones in our forums and I urge you all not to sign this.
 

MichaelPe

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Feb 22, 1999
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Hey David, welcome the forum!

Once again, I'd like to thank you for contacting the studios about this (I've just read the notice on the main CDUG page.)

One last thing. I don't want to insult any people outside of Canada (not my purpose at all) but this is a Canadian problem and not an international one and people outside of the country, if thinking to sign the petitions related, shouldn't be allowed to as they have no real clue as to what the issues are here (whether its for covers, french tracks etc).
I think the reason for their concern has to do with the fact that most people outside the country generally import all their R1 DVDs from Canadian websites (DVDBoxOffice, for example), so they are just as affected by this.
 

David Mariez

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This is true, but we all know, that officially this is not legal which is why their voices won't be heard in this matter.
 

MichaelPe

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Feb 22, 1999
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This is true, but we all know, that officially this is not legal which is why their voices won't be heard in this matter.
You're right. I hadn't even considered the legal aspect of exporting R1 DVDs until now. :)
As I've already offered in one of my posts on the CDUG forum, I would gladly start a new petition and rewrite the statement to be less harsh and more accurate. A lot of the comments I've read have made me rethink my stance on this issue.
 

MichaelPe

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 1999
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What is illegal about importing region 1 DVDs?

I'll tell what's illegal about it: Nothing.
I don't mean to be a smartass, but seriously... why do you think region codes even exist? Importing R1 DVDs is illegal for obvious reasons, but this is an entirely different issue altogether.
 

Kenneth Vestergaard

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Oct 15, 2000
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No, it is not illegal to import region 1 DVDs. It is perfectly legal. The studios would like you to believe that it is illegal, but it most certainly is not.

Region coding is a system implemented because the studios required the manufacturers to do it when the specifications for the DVD format were being planned, but it is perfectly legal to modify a player to play all regions, and it is perfectly legal to import region 1 DVDs from USA or Canada if you live in fx Europe (France being the only exception).
 

MichaelPe

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 1999
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No, it is not illegal to import region 1 DVDs. It is perfectly legal. The studios would like you to believe that it is illegal, but it most certainly is not.
Thanks for correcting me. I read a little more on the web about the F.A.C.T. (Federation Against Copyright Theft) and it seems that importing R1 DVDs is actually legal, but they are trying to ban it.

All of the DVDs I own have a disclaimer on the back that says "Not authorized for sale or rental outside the USA and Canada". Then, I read on the web that "It is LEGAL for UK citizens to order uncertificated video from overseas and possess them for their own personal use, but they may not resell them within the UK."

So, I guess that these laws apply only to retailers and resellers. This is very interesting, and I wonder if the reverse is true (importing non-R1 DVDs in North America).
 

David Mariez

Auditioning
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Apr 1, 2002
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Read my post carefully, I said "officially" which means that this is the word from the studios. "Technically" it can be done and obviously the MPAA won't go after the guys ordering a few discs but will be looking into the ones ordering 20copies of the same title to import.

Still after reflecting on a previous post, I still believe that this is more an internal issue simply because the product is pointed towards R1 consumers and not other region consumers. In any case...the next couple months should prove interesting to say the least.
 

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