Arguments between film directors and the studio executives overseeing their work are a legendary staple of Hollywood life. These disagreements have even spawned a genre of their own: the "director's cut."

Now the Congress of the United States, backed up by the President of the United States, has inaugurated a new era in the perennial battle of auteur/directors to maintain artistic and commercial control of their work product.

Section 202 of Title II of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005, passed by the Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on April 27, 2005, legally sanctions, in pertinent part:

"(11) the making imperceptible, by or at the direction of a member of a private household, of limited portions of audio or video content of a motion picture, during a performance in or transmitted to that household for private home viewing, from an authorized copy of the motion picture, or the creation or provision of a computer program or other technology that enables such making imperceptible and that is designed and marketed to be used, at the direction of a member of a private household, for such making imperceptible, if no fixed copy of the altered version of the motion picture is created by such computer program or other technology…. Any person who engages in the conduct described in paragraph (11) of section 110 of title 17, United States Code, and who complies with the requirements set forth in that paragraph is not liable on account of such conduct for a violation of any right under this Act."

This means that "ClearPlay filters" designed to expurgate video and audio content labeled by ClearPlay employees and selected by ClearPlay customers are now legal and that the lawsuit previously filed against ClearPlay by Steven Spielberg and the Directors Guild of America may soon come to an end.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is not happy about this and has said so, first in a strongly-worded press release and today, in a statement provided by a DGA spokesman to Etopia Media's Entertainment Technology World web site, which says:

"The DGA has previously stated its strong objections to the Family Movie Act - that this exception to copyright protection could have far-reaching implications that cannot fully be comprehended today--allowing third-party editing companies to change the political content of a film, to revise the historical record, to profit from abridged versions of films, and even to make versions of films that focus on violent and sexually explicit content.  The DGA will continue in its efforts to vigorously defend the right of directors to protect their work from unauthorized alteration."

A call to ClearPlay's corporate office in Salt Lake City, Utah, asking for comment had not been returned as this article was first posted at 5:00 pm on Friday, April 29, 2005.

For more about the possibilities opened up by the passage and President Bush's approval of the Family Movie Act, read Forbes.com's "My Family, My Movie," by Stephanie Fitch.

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