El-Kabong

Here's the contact page for the folks who put out the set:
http://www.classicmedia.tv/pages/contact.html. I've fired off an email expressing my displeasure over the matter, and I'll follow up with the phone call on my lunch break.

As for the matter that "It's just a bug" and that I'm stupid for being vexed over the whole thing - why do you buy letterboxed movies? Because that's what the director intended you to see. Do you think that Jay Ward wanted a transparent RB to be grafted into the corner of everything he did?

And more importantly, this sets a bad precedent. Think back 15 years ago when the USA network first started putting their TV bug in the corner of everything they showed. Nobody made a fuss and now it's EVERYWERE! If we don't nip this in the bud, who knows - something similar might happen to DVD.

Do you really want Casablanca with a transparent WB in the corner someday?

bboisvert

Is R&B in the public domain? That's the only possible reason I could think of... that Columbia wanted to 'brand' their footage to prevent a budget company from simply copying it.

But, of course, if R&B *is* in the public domain, why haven't we been flooded with previous releases?

Man, that's terrible news and it sets a horrible precident. When people shell out $$$ to buy a DVD, they shouldn't have to deal with logos, bugs, etc. on the program material itself.

folgersnyourcup

Here is an official response:

"From: Sasha Junk
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 5:14 PM
To: John Fraser; Tony Knight; Chris Gordon; Robert Mayo; Bob Higgins; Rick Penney; Brad Fazzari; Leslie Levine; Gary Hymowitz; Michael A. Wilcox
Subject: RE: "Rocky and Bullwinkle Complete Season One" DVD homevideo
Hi Mike,

We are pleased to hear that you are such a big fan of Rocky & Bullwinkle and appreciate your concern over the inclusion of a protective "watermark" on the programs. Unfortunately, over the past twenty years "No Goodniks" have pirated the Jay Ward library and sold unauthorized videos. Most consumers are unaware that these low-quality copies are illegal. Worse, consumers feel cheated because they are a poor representation of the original shows. More than one million dollars was invested by the Ward family to restore the film masters for Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends Complete Season 1 and future Jay Ward releases. The watermark enables us to trace the source of the video masters to prevent future copyright infringement and piracy, and to protect the Jay Ward legacy.

Best,
Sasha"

It was posted in this thread:

http://forums.dvdfile.com/interactiv...ad.php?t=35092

Easy

Or George Lucas staring at you from the bottom right corner of your screen throughout the entire Star Wars trilogy.
Loved the thread title. It really cracked me up... and thanks for the warning.

evenswr

Um...

I just want to say that I think the watermark is a really bad idea, it bothers me that they would slap it on the screen, and I greatly appreciate El-Kabong opening this thread and alerting us all to this problem with the Rocky & Bullwinkle set.

but...

I also thought that Tarantino's first response being "But does it have an insert?" was very funny.

Can I have it both ways?

Malticor

Reading this thread you'd think this thing was plastered in bright primary colors over half the screen the whole time! I got this yesterday and barely noticed. The first time I saw it, I thought, " I hope that doesn't stay there." A few seconds later it faded out, and I never noticed it again. What was more noticeable was the title changes. This was more annoying than the watermark, but i understand the studios reasons for it. So, they wanted a consistent product out of a show that aired under several titles on different networks. Big deal! Does that make it any less enjoyable? Not to me! If it's a problem for you I have two words: KEEL MOOSE!

majorjoe23

Doesn't a watermark just make things easier for bootleggers to claim it's a legit release? I can see dozens of ebay auctions now:

NOT A BOOTLEG! IT HAS A WATERMARK!

Bronkster

No, sir! I don't like it!

As already stated above, I don't understand how the watermark bug would prevent illegal copying. Granted the bug isn't as intrusive as what "Spike TV" is currently doing (which makes the channel unwatchable now. OK, it already was for the most part anyway), but I agree that this could set a very nasty precident.

My calm yet dissatisfied e-mail will be going out immediately.

bboisvert

Maybe I've been living in a cave, but I haven't noticed a significant number of R&B bootlegs out there, on any format (and certainly not on DVD)... seems that the Ward family is going to pretty extreme lengths to fight a battle that may not even exist.

Anyway, that's pretty much what I figured... when you see a watermark, it usually is just used as a means to prevent another company from making copies.

audrey

How does a watermark on the video image prevent bootlegs? It doesn't seem like it would be that difficult to digitally remove it if one were so inclined. Can someone shed some light on this question?

Alan Smithee

I quit watching TV 10 years ago when Fox started putting their stupid logo on the screen- I thought they would get enough complaints eventually to stop, but instead it's now on every ****ing network! I guess I can thank those of you who said "It's no big deal".

fnordboy

From what I can tell it won't prevent it but if a boot is using it video with the watermark they know they had stolen it from their release. Legally it is probably more helpful if they wanted to bother going after the booters.

Of course, it would be easy enough to remove the watermark, but it would be a slooow process. I would think they would have to go in frame by frame to remove it where ever it shows up. That might be enough of a reason to not bother booting this particular video.

PixyJunket

You're welcome, and it's still no big deal.

evenswr

Well, it's not the worst thing in the world, but I wouldn't think that there's anyone that likes it.

I remember when Mystery Science Theater 3000 first was shown on Sci-Fi Channel and they responded to complaints by moving their logo to the other side of the screen to prevent covering up Crow down in the right corner. Can't remember if they still do that or not...

Easy

It is to me. Bad enough I have to see the damn things on TV. I sure as hell won't pay to see them. New personal dvd purchase criteria - no watermarks.

evenswr

...and I admire your sincerity and devotion to purpose. I can't help thinking, though, that the message sent to the producers will be:

People hate Bullwinkle.

Oh, well. I own a couple pan-n-scan discs, so who am I to talk?

Neitzl

That does stink. Although I don't think it's the first time it's been done. I don't know how prominent the RB is , but on another disc, I think it was Gosford Park, there was a watermark in the lowerleft hand corner of the screen, in the black bar. It didn't go away at all, but it was pretty small, but not small enough for me to ignore very quickly.
Lets hope it really isn't a trend.

darkside

They starting covering his head again a year or so ago when the "its no big deal" attitude won over. Pretty soon many networks are going to have so much crap on the screen its all going to look like CNN.

StrTrkker

I sure hope the upcoming Looney Tunes set doesnt have the WB logo inserted into the bottom corner or I will be pissed for sure...

Pac-Rat

Well, I was one of those who did. Funny thing is my complaint was "it was too distracting, and cluttered the screen." Little did I know what would happen.

Forgot to mention earlier- El-Kabong,that's one of the better thread titles I've seen.

Pac-Rat

Like others, I don't get how this will help. It seems akin to putting rubber stamp on a painting. Anyways, Rocky & Bullwinkle seems more like a "cult" show, with a limited but loyal following, and not something that would have a large base of bootlegs.

PatrickMcCart

To those who aren't buying this because of a watermark:

I hope you're happy when Sony decides to not do anymore seasons because of poor sales. Bite the damn bullet and live with a 3 second watermark. You're going to spoil it for those who aren't obsessive compulsive.

At least it's not a TV logo as it would be on a network.

Alan Smithee

"I hope you're happy when Sony decides to not do anymore seasons because of poor sales."

I WILL be happy- maybe then they won't do anymore discs with onscreen crap!

calhoun07

I can't even think of how many times I don't notice the watermark on TV shows. Most of the time it's clear and doesn't obscure the picture anyway. While I am not exactly thrilled about the watermark on the DVD, I doubt it will become an issue for future releases, and I am willing to bet that I will hardly notice it when it comes on anyway. If not buying a great series because of something like this, then I feel sorry for you.

darkside