A federal judge has issued a final cut to studios, ruling that companies that snip out potentially offending material from movies for home viewing violate copyright laws, according to a recently published report.
Businesses that edit sex, profanity and violence out of DVD and VHS copies in an appeal to some viewers' tastes are "illegitimate," said Richard P. Matsch of U.S. District Court in Denver.
An article in the Los Angeles Times reported that four companies that do so must stop and turn over their copies of expurgated films to Hollywood's major studios.
"Audiences can now be assured that the films they buy or rent are the vision of the filmmakers who made them and not the arbitrary choices of a third-party editor," Directors Guild of America President Michael Apted said in a statement.
To read the entire Los Angeles Times article, click here.