From Volume 81, Number 2 (January 2008)
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In July 2006 the District Court of Colorado released its Memorandum Opinion and Order for the case Clean Flicks of Colorado, LLC v. Soderbergh. The decision stands as the culmination of events that included accusations, finger-pointing, judicial appeals, massive impleadings, academic debates, congressional hearings, and even statutory intervention. The specific issue that the court faced, which is still under discussion today, was whether companies that edit consumers’ personal copies of motion pictures for moral content infringed the movie studios’ copyrights. Although much of mainstream America was likely unaware of either the case’s existence or outcome, the court’s decision has the potential to affect many Americans because it directly impacts the broader question at issue: whether a proper balancing of copyright interests should recognize and protect consumers’ right to control the way that they experience movies in the privacy of their own homes.
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