Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Think that was ever authorized, I doubt it.

Good sleuthing.

It is shown at the website that you named; it is listed in the blu-ray.com DVD database; it is listed on Amazon.jp, the DVD can be found at the Uncle Remus Museum (museums don't usually have bootlegs in their collection, yet alone brag about having them), and Wikipedia mentions the DVD was released for the Taiwanese rental market.

That's five places that mention this DVD; I doubt that it is a bootleg. It is just a very rare DVD made from a crappy source. A lot of early DVDs were mastered from poor quality sources; we still had sh*tty TVs back then with much smaller screens. I still own several of these early DVDs and they look even worse on our gigantic TVs; upscaling can't save them. Some early DVDs came from masters that had been used for laserdiscs released years before them.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by Ender14

My mother-in-law had Song of the South on DVD and she gave it to us. It looks like a bootleg copied from VHS or laser disc. I think she said she got it on eBay. The image quality is pretty bad and some of the dark scenes it is hard to tell what is going on. I had never seen it before she gave it to us (very recently).

I consider myself to be a pretty liberal person and sensitive to others but I really don't see why this movie has been demonized the way it has. Yes, there are outdated racial stereotypes and I did cringe a couple of times, but certainly nothing that requires it to be erased from existence. If Birth of a Nation can still exist then there is no reason SotS can't as well. I understand it is Disney's decision, but they really should reconsider. I don't believe in censoring anything or erasing history. As other have said, it should be used as a learning tool.

There are no shortages of DVD bootlegs out there. A church bishop, of all people, once gave me one. It was pretty obvious that is was a fake seeing as it had some Warner Bros. cartoons on it as extra features. Disney never has content owned by other studios on their discs.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It is shown at the website that you named; it is listed in the blu-ray.com DVD database; it is listed on Amazon.jp, the DVD can be found at the Uncle Remus Museum (museums don't usually have bootlegs in their collection, yet alone brag about having them), and Wikipedia mentions the DVD was released for the Taiwanese rental market.

That's five places that mention this DVD; it is not a bootleg. It is just a very rare DVD to come by.

Go look at https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/618000

[Show spoiler]

Just got the Song of the South DVD from Classic Reels. It's the one sold at the the Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, GA.

Although the disc presentation and cover are very nice, the movie is a low quality PAL to NTSC conversion running 90 min 26 sec. The NTSC versions of the feature made by OT.com users look much better.

You keep saying this is not a bootleg, but I sure like to know why there is no Disney ID on it whatsoever. Come on, its got to be look at that big image. Its from China? They don't sell bootleg there, naaa!

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Go look at https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/618000



You keep saying this is not a bootleg, but I sure like to know why there is no Disney ID on it whatsoever. Come on, its got to be look at that big image. Its from China? They don't sell bootleg there, naaa!

It is from Taiwan, big difference, and it is not uncommon for a studio to license content to other entities for foreign distribution. Your link does not provide an image of the back DVD cover, either.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

It is from Taiwan, big difference, and it is not uncommon for a studio to license content to other entities for foreign distribution.

Disney, oh sure.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Disney, oh sure.

Disney about 23 years ago.

I don't know that there were any "Disney ID" numbers on the Chinese and Japanese laserdiscs, either, that predate the DVD. I never came across a bootleg laserdisc although I suppose they might exist.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Disney about 23 years ago.

Gave this company indefinite worldwide rights?

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Gave this company indefinite worldwide rights?

I doubt it, but seeing as it was intended for the Taiwanese rental market maybe such terms were never clearly specified. Maybe Disney allowed this edition to enter into the public domain overseas?

Disney is one of the most aggressive protectors of their copyrights in existence; I doubt that they would have allowed the Uncle Remus Museum in the U.S. state of Georgia to sell this DVD for all this time if it were a bootleg. Disney has been known to sue Mom and Pop owned child daycare centers that use likenesses of their characters without their permission.

The SongOfTheSouth.net website that you linked to, and managed by the same Song Of The South expert Christian Willis that you offered the bio for, seems to have been pretty careful not to show bootleg copies of this movie among the releases displayed at his website. He shows this DVD on his website and I doubt that the much ballyhooed Christian Willis would show us a bootleg DVD amongst all those official releases.

Edit: According to Wikipedia, Song Of The South is in the public domain in Japan.

"additionally, under Japanese copyright law, the film is now in the public domain."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South#Release

The same may apply to other parts of S.E. Asia?

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

I doubt it, but seeing as it was intended for the Taiwanese rental market maybe such terms were never clearly specified. Maybe Disney allowed this edition to enter into the public domain overseas?

Disney is one of the most aggressive protectors of their copyrights in existence; I doubt that they would have allowed the Uncle Remus Museum in the U.S. state of Georgia to sell this DVD for all this time if it were a bootleg. Disney has been known to sue Mom and Pop owned child daycare centers that use likenesses of their characters without their permission.

The SongOfTheSouth.net website that you linked to, and managed by the same Song Of The South expert Christian Willis that you offered the bio for, seems to have been pretty careful not to show bootleg copies of this movie among the releases displayed at his website. He shows this DVD on his website and I doubt that the much ballyhooed Christian Willis would show us a bootleg DVD amongst all those official releases.

Edit: According to Wikipedia, Song Of The South is in the public domain in Japan.

"additionally, under Japanese copyright law, the film is now in the public domain."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_South#Release

The same may apply to other parts of S.E. Asia?

Here’s a different perspective.
See https://filmschoolrejects.com/disney...-of-the-south/

[Show spoiler]

As Atlanta continues its claim to being the more cosmopolitan capital of the South and a growing hub for film, television, and video game production, the rest of Georgia has trouble letting go of much of its offending institutions. Stone Mountain reigns as the largest monument to the Confederacy. The rebel flag waves from homes and pickup trucks all over the state. The “tomahawk chop” performed by fans during Atlanta Braves games is just now being heavily reconsidered. And Disney’s Song of the South is widely available on DVD.

The first time I saw one of these unauthorized copies was during a street fair in 2012, my first year as a Georgia resident. The event was primarily devoted to booksellers and was being held in what’s considered to be one of the more liberal suburbs of Atlanta. I was surprised such contraband was just out in the open, but I came to learn that these bootleg DVDs are anything but a behind-the-counter item that has to be asked around for. Bookstores and other shops in Georgia have the film prominently displayed on shelves. Some businesses highlight the item on their website.

Song of the South is in the public eye lately thanks to Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+. No, the film won’t be coming out of the studio’s vault along with hundreds of other long lost titles.

So you have your answer bootleg.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Here’s a different perspective.
See https://filmschoolrejects.com/disney...-of-the-south/


So you have your answer bootleg.

From your link:

"it’s in the public domain in Japan, for instance"

As it is in the public domain in Japan, then Song Of The South DVDs from Japan are not bootlegs. I am not aware of any restrictions on importing DVDs that are legal in the country where they are made.

Again, blu-ray.com does not allow bootlegs to be listed in their DVD database and a DVD of this movie is listed there.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Again, blu-ray.com does not allow bootlegs to be listed in their DVD database and a DVD of this movie is listed there.

yeah I can see that https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Song-of-...uth-DVD/21578/

Disney / Buena Vista | 1946 | 94 min | Not rated | No Release Date

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

yeah I can see that https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Song-of-...uth-DVD/21578/

Disney / Buena Vista | 1946 | 94 min | Not rated | No Release Date

No, you are looking at the wrong listing. You always look at the American listings only and in this case there isn't an American release; your link is just for a sign-up to be notified in case there is ever a U.S. release.

Set the search to global and you will see:


Song of the South DVD (China) 79233
南方之歌
1946 | 94 min | Oct 24, 2012




https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Song-of-...th-DVD/159465/

[Vilya]

Everyone can relax now; I am DONE talking about the above topic.

[Anthony P]

Now all we need is a BD copy

[bhampton]

Check this quote out from a Vudu sold to Fandango Discussion elsewhere in this forum -

"like i said, you can write anything you want in terms of service, it doesnt make it true if it violates the general rules of sales and ownership."

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Vilya

Everyone can relax now; I am DONE talking.

J. Jonah Jameson Laughing - YouTube

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Check this quote out -
like i said, you can write anything you want in terms of service, it doesnt make it true if it violates the general rules of sales and ownership.

I saw the comment and there is some truth to it.

While Terms of Service are carefully crafted by lawyers, any contract can be challenged in court- even ones that say they can't be. Courts rule upon the legality of contracts and no terms therein can deny anyone their legal rights.

Here's a little anecdote: I have a friend who is an attorney (who doesn't?) and we were in a bar many years ago that had a prominently displayed sign that read "Not Responsible For Accidents!"

My lawyer friend laughed saying that any business open to the public remains responsible for accidents, depending upon the specific circumstances, no matter what signs they may post to the contrary. A sign does not override the law. The purpose of such a sign, he said, is to make people think that they have no legal rights when they actually do.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

J. Jonah Jameson Laughing - YouTube

Had I said that without these last four words:

Originally Posted by Vilya

I am DONE talking about the above topic.

the joke would be truly funny and not just from the result of your playful editing.

[JohnAV]

What to Expect When Movie Theaters Reopen This Summer - Vulture 6/26/20

Hitting theaters two full weeks ahead of Mulan’s scheduled release date is the PG-13 romantic-comedy The Broken Hearts Gallery. The Sony Pictures title arrives July 10 as Selena Gomez’s maiden outing as an executive producer. It marks writer Natalie Krinsky’s debut outing as a director, led by Geraldine Viswanathan, breakout co-star of the 2018 comedy Blockers. She play a romantically disillusioned New York gallerista who creates a pop-up art space (curated around relationship souvenirs) after being dumped by her latest boyfriend. Gallery now stands as Hollywood’s first major studio wide release since the shutdown, the kind of micro-budget movie that might have otherwise wound up on video on demand.

How we perceive success, how we report the numbers, all of that is going to be different.
“They’re going for a young, female audience; anybody who’s under the age of 25 to 30 is going to be among the first to go back to theaters,” says Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro. “So it makes sense to put out a movie like that right now to start that wave of getting people back in. It might not be a big opener. It didn’t cost a lot to make. So they don’t need to break the bank at the box office. They’re out there to take advantage of the marketplace and potentially stay in theaters longer than they normally would have.” (Distributed by the upstart indie Solstice Studios, the Russell Crowe road-rage drama Unhinged also arrives in more than 2,000 cinemas on July 10.)

[JohnAV]

Can Live Sports Transform The Streaming Video Wars? - Forbes 6/26/20

The problem? Differentiating based on your entertainment franchises only goes so far. Yes, having a content well brimming with The Avengers, The Office, or Stranger Things is vital, as Apple TV+ has found during the pandemic. With production halted or slowed for months, TV+ was particularly vulnerable to Bare Cupboard Syndrome.

The eight-month-old service is reportedly reconsidering its originals-only approach, buying the Tom Hanks WWII thriller Greyhound from Sony for $70 million and licensing other content from outside sources.

But all of the other services are facing similar challenges. Way too much Disney+ original programming is about, well, how great it is to be Disney. ViacomCBS is still weeks or more away from detailing exactly how it will make CBS All Access more than the Star Trek/Good Fight network.

And look at the sparse lineup of new shows on HBO Max. Other than Anna Kendrick’s winsome turn in Love Life, there’s little to grab the eye. Admittedly, HBO Max does have a rich catalog on offer, from Charlie Chaplin to Casablanca, Rick and Morty to Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory to South Park. Comcast’s Peacock probably faces the same problem, with too few distinctive new feathers on display when it attempts to take flight in a couple of weeks.

As the Peak TV arms race has already proven, trying to differentiate based on your library entertainment offerings is an increasingly expensive, near-zero-sum game. But what happens if the media and tech companies now brawling over an increasingly oversubscribed set of possible customers added live sports to their offerings?

That’s the question suggested by veteran industry watcher Rich Greenfield, an analyst with LightShed Partners, in a couple of recent posts.

“This feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for tech platforms to strike at the lifeblood of the legacy media business — meaning sports,” Greenfield wrote. “The most watched sport in the U.S., the NFL, is set to license its next round of media rights later this calendar year. In fact, we would not be surprised to see rights deals announced before this coming season begins in September.”

Just not sure people needs sports so fractured it will be found on a wide array of streaming services. Broadcast you can switch a channel, but with stadium seats vacant, they want to try to make sports more personal and promote watch parties at home via streaming. ESPN+ been such a great deal lately.