Originally Posted By mousermerf I just had the realization that I know a Disney "lawyer" (they're umm.. not? I had it explained to me that they're mostly paralegals and lawyer-underlings since it's cheaper for the mouse that way..) and the one I know is the one who usually sends out the cease and desist letters for new idea submissions (aka: don't do it) and intellectual property. More importantly, this one usually works for the network and films, but only does stuff for the theme parks when someone is blatantly out of line. Which I think explains why they're just now getting EAC, as the lawyer-types focus on TV and film. All that aside.. if you say you wish they had something or you would like it if there was something.. that's ok. Saying Disney "should" do something is not. Long story short, you can phrase it as your desire all you want, but you can't word it as a directive for the mouse. That doesn't apply to forum-chatter, but anything you actually write to them.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper ^^^^Yup. When I would get the chance to talk to WDI guys, they'd always tell me the ridiculous ideas they get in the mail.
Originally Posted By mousermerf They send back a form letter apparently, and then only call the lawyer types when someone doesn't take a hint.
Originally Posted By friarthe Well, I'm grateful I've got my copies of the EAC DVDs, and will gladly buy legal versions of the same content if Disney would sell them. Even at the ridiculous prices they sometimes charge. Besides, then I wouldn't have to put up with Dave's horrible editing, brain-rattling camerawork, and unflattering fish-eye views of his family members. But the EAC pluses: --pretty good mini-documentaries --Captain Eo on DVD --easy access to some obscure footage --ride-throughs. That's all I'm asking for, the Mouse. Ride-throughs of killer rides like Horizons, Alien Encounter, and Nature's Wonderland. Preferably shot by someone competent.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer ^ You could have gone to Martin Smith and gotten them for free. <a href="http://www.martinsvids.net/" target="_blank">http://www.martinsvids.net/</a>
Originally Posted By danyoung friarthe, I couldn't agree with you more. I edit video for a living, and the editing errors, bad video and audio levels, etc. that make it into these final versions just really annoys me. Yeah, some people (me) are better editors than others (Dave), but even he should be able to see where the video on screen is just bad vhs hash and should be clipped out. Ah well . . .
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Theft is theft. Someone selling Disney's intellectual property is stealing. And it is that simple. Whether fans like it or not. Whether sites like this one choose to associate themselves with those people and their products. Whether Disney's lawyers go after them selectively or not. It is pretty common knowledge among many folks here that I have talked with publishers about a few Disney-based book concepts. You wanna bet Disney will be benevolent to the Spirit? Then again, I am not hocking DVDs of Horizons. Of course, this is the same company that stole the concept for their D23 fanzine from the much better Tales From the LP, so it all really is just a big game. But as someone who has had intellectual property stolen and has watched others make a staggering amount of income off of it (and that's as much info as i'll put out here) there isn't really a gray area. What these folks are doing is wrong. But I'm sure they'll be forgiven by a Higher Power!
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 "<<Is this the guy that does all those DVDs they advertize here? If it is, I am surprised he lasted as long as he does!!! I couldn't believe he was selling DVDs of parades, attractions and shows. It's actually pretty blatant.>> I dunno who the person is, but I am looking at an ad for a Jeff Lange DVD of the MSEP on this page as I type this." Thank you for actually being the first damned person to ACTUALLY answer my question, Mr. Spirit! I am kind of appalled it took THIS long for somebody to actually answer it!!! I have kinda gathered though from reading this thread through that Jeff Lange and this other person are not the same but they seem to be doing very similar things.
Originally Posted By MousDad >>Theft is theft. Someone selling Disney's intellectual property is stealing. And it is that simple. Whether fans like it or not. Whether sites like this one choose to associate themselves with those people and their products. Whether Disney's lawyers go after them selectively or not.<< I've been thinking about why Disney is so selective in who they go after, and the issue in general. First of all, whether someone sells it/makes money off it, is completely a non-issue when it comes to infringement of copyright. (With respect to the law, not Disney's POV, I mean.) The copyright violations that are rampant in this cottage industry consist of 1) reproduction of copies, 2) creation of derivative works, and 3)distribution of copies to the general public (publication), all of which are exclusive rights of the copyright owner, and neither of which have anything to do with whether someone sells the material. In other words, there is no difference (from a copyright perspective) between distributing copies online that you took with a hi-res video of an advanced screening of Toy Story 3 in a theater, and distributing copies online of a video capture of Captain EO. But you can be sure that Disney would come after you for the former, and not the latter. Some people in the cottage industry use the "not commercially available" rule for determing whether or not to freely distribute the material, but again from a copyright perspective, that is irrelevant. It all boils down to whether Disney allows it or not. I've observed that they tend to go after people who infringe graphic artwork (daycare centers) or studio produced material (why they go after the guy hawking TV shows but not Lange). Which basically says to me that they don't consider material produced in/for the theme parks to be of any concern to them. Or there may be more gray issues involved, whereas someone who infringes Disney artwork or a Disney-produced motion picture has no chance in court whatever. But it's tough for fans and historical preservation, because once something's gone in the Disney parks, it will never see the light of day again (from Disney). So fans have taken it upon themselves to preserve and indulge in the content, and Disney doesn't go after them. But they could, legally.
