Page 1 of Should copyright screens be in the special features section?

Let`s face it, no-one reads the copyright screens, and they`re seen as an annoyance before the bit you want to get to. That and involuntary trailers (Disney).

So, do you think that Copyright screens should be made available to the viewer, not foisted upon us?

Frankly I find anything that locks out the remote and makes you watch it is irritating. The copyright warnings, IMHO, are downright offensive. I have no desire to copy their damn discs because I`ve paid for them, and the Studios` assumption that I`m either some kind of maniacal compulsive duplicator or a hardened criminal is insulting.

Mind you, I`ve just reviewed Angelina Jolie`s "Life Or Something Like It" and that has a lovely locked-in announcement at the start about the disc being retail only, and if you`re renting the disc you should phone this number and grass the shop up to Fox`s revenue protection department.

J Mark Oates

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Reviewer, Columnist and All Round Good Egg
DVD.Reviewer.co.uk

What really annoys me is when you are locked out of the copyright screens, not only in English, but in about 26 other languages as well, taking about 5 minutes to actually get to the menus...

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Chris Cox

Region 1 News Editor, Columnist and Site Reviewer
DVD Reviewer

http://www.cbcox.org.uk - Orange SPV, Photography and SNES

Indeed, Mind you, I`ve always wanted to know copyright laws written in russian, suomi, bengali, uzbekistanian...

Copyright `reminders` suck, big time. Trailers for other films are especially annoying - fair enough on rental DVDs but just plain daft on retail ones. Who wants to watch an outdated trailer months or even years after buying a disc?

I think these are two more benefits of being able to back up movies using DVD Shrink (etc) and get rid of this crap if and when it`s separate from the main film.

On a related note, we (although very very rarely and nearly always from Metrodome or Momentum) sometimes get the odd review disc with a forced timecode on the subtitle track, presumably because the idiots who make these thing that:

a) We will review them (which we won`t as they aren`t an accurate representation of the finished product by any means)

b) We couldn`t just create a new DVD using one of the many free utilities out there that removes this subtitle track

I think the early Scan player actually let you disable the features that prevent you from skipping to another menu when it is locked on a copyright screen. Shame you can`t do this with PowerDVD. :/

Editor
DVD REVIEWER

There was a film we had finished watching the other day, and we let it play through instead of stopping it - it then bought up about 20 copyright notices and the only way to stop the actual disk was to turn the player off. Couldn`t eject it or anything. How annoying.

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I agree, they are a pain in the bum, at least with vhs you could just fast forward to the start of the movie, but i resent having to sit there and watch umpteen notices then rubbish trailers before i can get to the menu, i sit there frantically pressing the menu button sometimes!!.. AARRRRGHHH!!! so annoying, mind you some WB titles when u put them on, go straight to the movie, no menu nothing, which is kinda annoying if you put the disc in while getting a beer or whatever only to come back and find the movie playing

I think they should be shown after the credits roll at the end of a film or can be selected from the main menu the same way New Line Cinema put their logo in for the DVD credits
They are really crap as the disc itself has the copyright prined around the edge and the package as well

Film companies we do get the piont! Dou you see copyright screens at the start of tv programs or computer games, come to think of it nearly any type of digital media eg.CD`s

Theres a lot to be said for VHS

You have total control, JUST FAST FOWARD anytime.