STEVEN SPIELBERG - JUDGE RULES AGAINST SANITISED MOVIES

JUDGE RULES AGAINST SANITISED MOVIES

A US federal judge ended a six-year trial on Monday (11JUL06) by ruling it is illegal for distribution companies to release sanitised versions of movies, because it infringes the rights of film-makers. Directors including STEVEN SPIELBERG, MARTIN SCORSESE and ROBERT ALTMAN were named in the lawsuit against film distribution companies heard in Denver, Colorado, which sought to cease the release of films with all bad language and nudity removed. Judge RICHARD MATSCH ordered the named companies to immediately stop distributing sanitised edits of the INDIANA JONES trilogy and KING KONG, and a host of other blockbusters. Matsch told the court, "What is protected are the creator's rights to protect its creation in the form in which it was created." Among the companies affected by the ruling are CleanFlicks, Family Flix and Play It Clean Video.