Spiky

Britfan,
We all know about Walmart, hence my easy reference to it with no explanation needed. I've basically given up shopping there, even though in my town it isn't as much of an issue as they are outweighed by the REALLY big gorilla, Target. And you do need to clean up your quoting, use the quote buttons in the Reply screen instead of just typing "Quote".

Spiky

Some. Any. One's we don't have. Monopoly laws could be more forward-thinking, perhaps. Price-fixing laws, perhaps. I'm not read up on this group, so can't really be too specific.

Or, people could be more intelligent and not give Walmart power.......Hmm, forget that, lost my head there.....

BritTVfanMidwst

Spiky--

I can't get the quote thing to work right--there is no "quote" button on each message the way normal posting boards work. When I try to click the "quote message in reply" option either A) NOTHING HAPPENS or B) I literally cannot put a check in the box it won't let me or C) my entire browser shuts down. So don't be so snippy with me, when there's a problem with the forum not allowing me to quote messages. (I use cut and paste, instead). If I need to change a preference somewhere --for god's sake just bloody tell me, don't be snippy about it!
Thanks

Brit TV fan

Gerry P.

It's in the bottom right corner of every post:



If you can't see it, then it's your browser.

paulringodaman

I wonder if the moderators will let us talk about importing DVDs and foreign films

El-Kabong

Actualy if he cant see it, it's because of the firewall. Norton buggers up the buttons here. Check the suport forum - they have the solution in a sticky there.

Spiky

Britfan,
Sorry, wasn't trying to be "snippy".

Gerry,
I was actually refering to the button that creates the quote area that you can use over and over again for long posts. Just like the URL button for posting links conveniently.

paul,
Try the International forum, that's what it's for.




Did we go off topic again?

Spiky

Vandelay,
I guess we're agreeing essentially. I'm just not sure because you appear to be contradicting yourself. Maybe I'm reading something wrong.

BritTVfanMidwst

Gerry P said quote: It's in the bottom right corner of every post: Unquote

NO, it isn't!!!! I thought we'd established that! Believe me, it's just as annoying for me to re-type or cut&paste what other forum members are saying as it is for some of you to figure out where the quotes end (that's what unquote means).
There RE NO "QUOTE" BUTTONS!!!! And I'm using Microsoft Internet Explorer, not some off brand browser. If I need to change something PLEASE tell me how to do it.
Thanks.

--Brit TV fan

Hamburger3

Give an example and I will answer you. Im from the uk.

Philip Reuben

This is probably the rating for the UK and the rating for Ireland. The same DVDs usually get released in both, but they have to be rated separately by each ratings body.

I don't see what's so confusing about this. Different seasons/series can have different kinds of content, and the BBFC will rate them accordingly.

BritTVfanMidwst

hamburger 3 and Philip Reuben--

Okay, here's some examples:

*Randall and Hopkirk, deceased* (2000)
Series 1-- Outside case "12" in Red circle.
Physically on disc 1-- 12 in red circle AND 15 in bright blue octagon with light blue ring surrounding it. The light blue ring says: "Film censor's office" and something in a language I can't read. Disc two has the same two symbols.
Series 2-- Outside case "12" in red circle.
Inside on discs, "12" in red circle AND "12" in the same blue octagon described above.
Blake's 7-- Series 1
"PG" in a yellow triangle (I'm used to PG meaning "Parental Guidance Suggested"--a film rating)
The discs are marked with the PG in yellow triangle and "G" in the blue octogan described above.
The Professionals
Season One-- 15 in red circle, discs 1, 2, & 4--15 in black circle inside (all the writing on the discs is black print tho), disc 3 is a 12.Season
Season Two-- 15 in red circle
The discs are marked Disc 1--15, disc 2 12, disc 3 12, and disc 4 PG in a triangle!
(Explain THAT!)
Season Three -- 12 in red circle
12 on all four discs inside
Brass
PG-- yellow triangle
A Very Peculiar Practice
15 in a red circle on case, same on discs.

I guess what threw me was seeing a DIFFERENT rating on the disc than on the cases, seeing two ratings for the same item and different seasons being rated differently.
It's very strange.

--Brit TV Fan

PS-- Thanks for your help tho!

Philip Reuben

The blue octagons are the Irish ratings (which I know little about other than that they appear on a lot of DVDs), the others are the UK ratings.

When TV shows are submitted for BBFC rating, it's usually in blocks of either each disc or individual episodes, which the BBFC will then judge on its own content and give a certificate to. Each disc will then have to show the rating for that disc or, if each episode was rated individually, the highest rating out of them all.

It's strange to see that much variation within one series, but evidently the BBFC saw a big difference in the level of content. (Their priorities can be a little strange sometimes, and this may be a reflection of that.) That's what happens when different parts get rated individually... it makes sense to me (aside my general disagreement with mandatory ratings). The packaging will then have the highest rating out of any of the discs.

I've only ever owned one DVD bought in Ireland, but on the packaging, the Irish ratings were literally just stickers on top of the UK ones. I guess that wouldn't be practical for the discs themselves, which is why those have two sets of ratings printed on them.

BritTVfanMidwst

Hi Philip--

Thanks for the info. For the record, in the States--movies were/are rated, but having *any* sort of ratings for TV shows is VERY new, and I don't think DVDs have seperate ratings (eg-- the DVD of a film just has the MMPA rating on it). (And often older films carry no rating)

I buy what I like and seldom look at ratings, tho' I found it VERY strange to see completely different ratings on each *disc* of "The Professionals" (tho' I know the series had some controversy about the violence level). Which is, in and of itself, odd.

I'd actually have stuff rated than the OLD system for TV in the US, which was make everything suitable for a 12-year-old (and thus no entertainment for adults. In fact, the phrase "adult entertainment" in the US is usually slang for porn, but I'm actually NOT talking about that, I'm talking about reasonably intelligent TV programs, that adults can actually *watch*-- that's probably a BIG, big reason I started watching Brit TV in the first place).

--Brit TV fan

Squirrel God

BritTVfanMidwst,

As I said in my previous post, it is actually illegal here to sell anything that doesn't have a rating - that includes TV shows, documentaries, cartoons, etc. Selling something without submitting it for classification, as you can do in the US, is just not permitted here. Our ratings are not guidance, as they are in the US -- they are requirements.

Because each disk is a separate entity, each disk must bear a rating from the BBFC -- so TV shows which have multiple disks must bear a rating on each disk. This avoids the problem of a single disk from a boxset being sold on its own and not bearing a rating.

Re the quotes thing, if you are having trouble seeing the quote button, you can create quotes manually. Just highlight the text you want to set as a quote and click the last button on the toolbar in the Reply box. This one ---> . Alternatively, just put this at the start of a quote:

[ quote ] (without the spaces)

and this at the end of the quote:

[ / quote ] (again, without the spaces)

Josh Z

You're not going crazy. This sometimes happens if your virus protection software blocks graphics stored on this site's ad server. See the first post in this thread (section "Missing Buttons") for how to fix the problem:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=194140

Breakfast with Girls

Whatever. If you have this much of a problem with the major record labels, there are thousands of independent labels that treat their bands better. Almost all of the CDs I buy (indie labels only) are $5-10. I download music, and if I like it enough to keep it, I buy the album.

And regardless, these bands that stick with the major labels must be getting something out of the deal, or else they wouldn't continue to renew their contracts. Whether or not you're "at peace with your decision," it's still a justification for theft. And if you saw them on the street? What the fuck? Send them $20 by mail. But you won't, because that's not the real reason you download music.

tonyc3742

"No justification nessassary. I'm at peace with stealing music, because the industry are a bunch of rat bastards who care more about squezing a couple more pennies out of their product."

First, isn't that justification?
And, of course, hmmm...this actually applies to, oh, pretty much EVERY industry. I work for a medical equipment manufacturing company, and you're right, we want to maximize our profit/revenue. Does that mean you're going to go steal an MRI scan? Same thing with automanufacturers, DVD publishers, everybody.
I'm not condoning or bashing dl'ing music, I'm just saying using this 'logic' to excuse music piracy is inherently flawed.

Josh H

The medical example isn't really a fair comparison.

The Record Industry tries to maximize profits like other businesses, but they do so at the expense of music quality and the artists themselves by only signing sound alikes and signing new artists to contracts that pay them very little relative to what the labels make.

I'm not trying to justify anything as I don't d/l music at all. I still prefer to have the actual CD despite the horrible system.

tonyc3742

But they're obviously doing something right, those albums are selling.

"Music quality"--Impossible to define, unless you mean they are recording on an old school-system tape player [which I doubt you are].

Sound alikes--like any other industry, you have your innovators and your imitators [see: any tv network, "reality" shows.]

Signing to contracts--I assume most musicians can read a contract? Never sign something before you read it. In the past to get 'big' you needed a label. Thus, the labels had the power. The good news is that today there are so many alternative sources and venues, the contracts need to be a little more competitive and offer a little more to the artist.

Still nothing really makes the record industry stand out from many other industries except for lots of publicity and poor starving artists.

I do agree, there's something about having a CD with all its accoutrements.

chemosh6969

Importation into the United States, without the authority of the owner of copyright under this title, of copies or phonorecords of a work that have been acquired outside the United States is an infringement of the exclusive right to distribute copies or phonorecords under section 106, actionable under section 501.

I forget which company it was, but they were importing Shaolin Soccer dvd's and whichever company it was that released it in the theaters told them to stop doing it.

Thus if they imported the dvd, they would be breaking the law.

The company that wanted them to stop put the original movie on the new release and the imports would have cut into their profit.

cynthia

So it's illegal to import and sell them, but what about renting them out?

djtoell

Please read the relevant section of the Copyright Act that I posted back on page one. There is a personal use allowance, but it only applies "for the private use of the importer and not for distribution." Renting is not a private use, but rather a type of leased distribution.

DJ

cynthia

I was just wondering because a lot of people use NicheFlix, who are even a DVD Talk affiliate. They're located in Indiana, I believe.

Nebiroth

Looks to me like the US is pretty much like the UK here. Importing for your own personal use is perfectly legal. Importing for commercial purposes is not - ie if you import for the purpose of profit such as rental or sale that's illegal. Firstly, because the product is only authorized for sale where it says it is (remember that when I import a title from the US, I actually purchase it in the US and have it sent to me here in the UK. The actual sale takes place in the US).

But second, and more importantly - and this is where the authorities are really hot on the subject, at least in my country - imported titles have not passed through our certification process. And again while it's perfectly legal to import virtually anything you please for your own personal use (even stuff that wouldn't get a certificate here!) it's a big no-no to have uncertified material for sale/and or rent.

It's nothing to to with copyright really...because when you import something, you aren't breaching copyright. WHat you buy is a fully authorised copy..unless of course it's a priate version. That site is frankly misleading and confusing!

There have been shops that imported titles and resold them here that were shut down with their stock seized.

The only ones still operating are those that offer a "personal import service". That is, you place an order with them, and they then have it sent from a US/Canadian/whatever end direct to you.