topics
GreenCine Movie Talk
	Home Releases General discussion about what's out for the couch.	271

MGM DVD Lawsuit Settlement
	Topic by: hardcle Posted: January 26, 2005 - 7:19 PM PST Last Reply: March 3, 2005 - 2:52 PM PST

author	topic: MGM DVD Lawsuit Settlement
hardcle	post #1  on January 26, 2005 - 7:19 PM PST   If you have one of 325 MGM widescreen DVD titles purchased between 1998 and 2003 you may be eligible to get cash or new DVDs under the terms of a class action lawsuit. Apparently MGM was very naughty and marketed DVDs as widescreen when they were actually pan & scan with the top and bottom chopped off. Visit the website for a list of titles and more details.
kohnfused1	post #2  on January 27, 2005 - 10:17 AM PST   > On January 26, 2005 - 7:19 PM PST hardcle wrote: > --------------------------------- > If you have one of 325 MGM widescreen DVD titles purchased between 1998 and 2003 you may be eligible to get cash or new DVDs under the terms of a class action lawsuit. > > Apparently MGM was very naughty and marketed DVDs as widescreen when they were actually pan & scan with the top and bottom chopped off. > > Visit the website for a list of titles and more details. > --------------------------------- Thanks Hardcle, that's "Grrreat!!" news. Now, I just have to go through my collection and see how much I can get. :)
underdog	post #3  on January 27, 2005 - 10:31 AM PST   Yeah, excellent tip Hardcle! Those cheap bastards! I'm a little confused, though, even after looking at that settlement lawsuit. I have a couple of the titles on that list, but I purchased them after the cut-off date. They were new, but sold after the 2003 date. Does that make me ineligible for this? Either way, I'm glad this came to light - perhaps this will teach other studios to think twice before trying to pull a fast one, past DVD-geeks.
RParson	post #4  on January 27, 2005 - 11:57 AM PST   Just made a cursory examination of the list and I have at least four movies that are eligible. Robert
kohnfused1	post #5  on January 27, 2005 - 4:43 PM PST   > On January 27, 2005 - 10:31 AM PST underdog wrote: > --------------------------------- > Yeah, excellent tip Hardcle! Those cheap bastards! > > I'm a little confused, though, even after looking at that settlement lawsuit. I have a couple of the titles on that list, but I purchased them after the cut-off date. They were new, but sold after the 2003 date. Does that make me ineligible for this? > > Either way, I'm glad this came to light - perhaps this will teach other studios to think twice before trying to pull a fast one, past DVD-geeks. > > > > > --------------------------------- Hey, wait a minute! I'm "kohnfused", or am I? (scratches head).... You're getting me all mixed up Underdog, bad doggy, bad doggy! No "special" brownies for you....ummm "special" brownies....well, I'm off to bake. :)
hardcle	post #6  on January 27, 2005 - 6:28 PM PST   > On January 27, 2005 - 10:31 AM PST underdog wrote: > --------------------------------- > Yeah, excellent tip Hardcle! Those cheap bastards! > > I'm a little confused, though, even after looking at that settlement lawsuit. I have a couple of the titles on that list, but I purchased them after the cut-off date. They were new, but sold after the 2003 date. Does that make me ineligible for this? > --------------------------------- I have three of the titles, but I'm not sure when I got them. I called for the claim form anyway, I figure it will have more information. I'll post an update when I get it.
RParson	post #7  on February 2, 2005 - 10:43 AM PST   I received the claim form today and discovered I will have to mail them the actual discs in order to take part in the settlement. I understand why they would want the discs, I just don't know if that's something I want to do. A couple are no longer available. While I would prefer to have a properly letterboxed movie, I can live with them the way they are. Robert
underdog	post #8  on February 2, 2005 - 12:38 PM PST   > On February 2, 2005 - 10:43 AM PST RParson wrote: > --------------------------------- > I received the claim form today and discovered I will have to mail them the actual discs in order to take part in the settlement. I understand why they would want the discs, I just don't know if that's something I want to do. A couple are no longer available. While I would prefer to have a properly letterboxed movie, I can live with them the way they are. > > Robert > --------------------------------- I was afraid that's what they'd want - I guess that's the only way they can confirm you have the disc in question, and also understand why they'd want it back. But, as you said, without a suitable new letterboxed version of the films, there's not much point to it except to get a little bit of money to put toward something else I guess. I'm sure MGM realized most people would feel the same way, and thus were willing to settle. Oh well.
MollyGrue	post #9  on February 3, 2005 - 10:11 PM PST   Actually, if you check www.widescreen.org, they have an article that says that the discs weren't improperly formatted, they were improperly advertised as to what the OAR actually was. Relieved my worries. After all, I have have about 25 titles on that list and to replace them all would have been a pain.
Eoliano	post #10  on February 4, 2005 - 1:05 PM PST   > Actually, if you check www.widescreen.org, they have an article that says that the discs weren't improperly formatted, they were improperly advertised as to what the OAR actually was. Are you referring to this article? I own four eligible titles on the list: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Raging Bull, Ronin and The Train, and of these, three of them are two-sided discs with standard and widescreen versions. Having compared both versions of the three standard/widescreen discs listed above, it's obvious that the widescreen versions are not cropped pan and scan versions. One can only speculate whether the original aspect ratios for these films are correct or not. Unfortunately, only Ronin is anamorphic and looks just fine, but since I own a widescreen TV, once adjusted to properly "fit" a 16x9 TV, the other DVDs lack resolution and look terrible. I'll likely trade in Raging Bull at DigitalEyes.com and replace it with the new SE when it hits the street, but what to do with Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Train? It hardly seems worthwhile sending them to MGM...
artifex	post #11  on March 2, 2005 - 4:18 AM PST   I'd like to see what the list of replacement DVDs includes. I have many on this list, but like others here, I have no intention of mailing back any title that's entirely OOP, now. On the other hand, some of you might try to scour your local used DVD stores and see if you can get these for $3-4, and make a little money off this :) I don't know if you also have to mail the original covers, or just the discs themselves...
nyetah	post #12  on March 3, 2005 - 2:52 PM PST   thanks for the heads-up hardcle!!!