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Make Original Trilogy DVDs available through originaltrilogy.com

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The DVDs scheduled for release in Fall 2004 will be the SE versions of the Star Wars trilogy.

However, those of us wanting the original theatrical cuts on DVD are getting the cold shoulder from Lucasfilm.

Instead of leaving us to hunt through eBay for old Laserdisc copies or bootleg DVDs, why not make them available from the originaltrilogy.com website? You could create a DVD set, perhaps using Laserdisc transfers, and charge people 5 or 10 dollars plus shipping for these DVD copies. I'm not advocating piracy here; anyone who purchases would have to sign a statement affirming that they already own these films in some other format (such as VHS), or could possibly be required to send in some sort of proof-of-purchase if necessary. The DVD copies would simply be "backups" to their purchased copies, and would give the thousands of people longing for a DVD set of the original Star Wars trilogy the movies they want with better resolution and more longevity than their existing VHS copies.

The money raised through this effort could be used to promote the originaltrilogy.com petition since, after all, everyone would probably still want an official DVD copy of the original trilogy with all the bonus features Lucasfilm can offer.

And I'll just take a small percentage of the profits for coming up with this idea.
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I think they would be pirated and then they would close the site down or come down on jay
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You mean, people would pirate those DVDs and sell them? I think people already do that on eBay - and people are gonna pirate the SEs as well, but that doesn't mean anyone'll blame Best Buy for selling them in the first place.

Besides, why would they prosecute for pirating something that isn't even available for sale?
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Because they can.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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They prosecute people for putting advance copies of movies up for download and they're not available for sale either. At least, not yet. Right?
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Except those are movies currently running in theaters and/or soon to be released on DVD. (People are trying to protect their revenue sources.)

Lucas has indicated that he does not intend to release the originals on DVD.


However, I don't want anyone giving out pirated copies anyway. Isn't it legal for me to buy a DVD backup as long as I have the originals on VHS or LD?
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While I will no longer try to tame those who wish to find other methods of enjoying the original cuts, I certainly won't bring the legal hammer of Lucasfilm down on this site by selling them outright--sworn affadavit or not.

Follow the link provided by TR47 if you're so inclined.
Forum Administrator

MTFBWY…A

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Hmmm- I'm a fan of TRON and when Wendy Carlos restored the soundtrack, she got permission to sell it via the web-I have a copy myself- being that Disney had no plans to reissue the soundtrack. But I think Lucas would just say "No way man- that's MY money"!
Come join my forum at www.cultofthejedi.com
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Well, there's no way Lucas would allow people to sell copies of the original cuts, because it would be seen as direct competition to the SE DVDs.

However, I'm just talking about a backup service for people who already own the old copies. But, of course, since it would be difficult to ensure that only legit owners of a copy of Star Wars were purchasing the "backups", I can see why the administration here isn't keen on it.
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Quote

Originally posted by: jedimaster
But I think Lucas would just say "No way man- that's MY money"!

That about sums it up.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
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Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Yeah, except - it isn't Lucas' money if I wasn't going to spend it on his SE DVDs no matter what.

I mean, what I could do is purchase a VHS-to-DVD burner and make backups that way. Or, I could buy the Laserdiscs from someone who got them back in the 90's and get all the software / hardware necessary to make a DVD backup from them.

I could spend hundreds of dollars getting DVD copies from the copies I already have, and Lucas wouldn't see a cent of it. I would much rather pay $40 or $50 for an official DVD copy from Lucasfilm, since it'd be higher quality, but if I can't get that there are other legal means of getting my own personal DVD copy of the original versions.
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If I had the equipment, I'd make the friggin' things from my OT VHS tapes and give them away.
Come join my forum at www.cultofthejedi.com
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Can anyone provide a list of equipment they would recommend. I'll throw in what I used to make my DVD's.

My PC is an AMD 1900 XP (1.6Ghz) with 512 Megs of SD2700 DDR RAM. I have two 80 Gb hard drives and one 20 Gb one. I also have a Canopus ADVC-100 DV bridge which was about $270.00. You can actually achieve the same results with the Canopus ADVC-50 or ADVC-1394. Those two are PC cards that you install. The 1394 has its own Firewire, but the other 50 and 100 require a Firewire card or some other device with a Firewire connection. I only went for the more expensive 100 because it can do Analog to Digital and back. I thought that would come in handy if I needed to make a tape for someone who doesn't own a DVD Player.

My LD Player is the Pioneer CLD-D703 which I think was one of the best non Elite Pioneer players. The 704 was better, but the only difference was that it had an AC-3 output connector. The 703 can easily be modified for that, but I didn't bother since the Definitive Collection LD's are not AC-3.

The software I used was WinDV (capture), Virtual Dub(editor), TMPNGEnc Plus (encoder), and DVD-Lab (author).

Sorry if this is off topic. I feel this is legal because I'm suggesting what I used to make my own DVD's so others can have an idea of what they need to buy in order to back up their VHS or LD copies. Others may have different preferences as to equipment and software they feel is better. I'm curious as to what others used to do their's because I'm always looking for ways to improve.

Patrick


"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." - Tuco from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
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Isn't there some kind of machine that has a VHS slot on one side and a DVD burner on the ohter? If those were cheap enough, I'd get one.
Come join my forum at www.cultofthejedi.com
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Not sure how widely available they are. I know I've seen commercials for them, but I haven't gone looking for them in any stores.

Here's one example:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111999,00.asp
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they make them but I seem to remember that duplicating abilities were hampered by macrovision scramblers or some such. I think they were made primarily for backing up home movies to DVD instead of pre-recorded VHS movies.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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When did they start putting copy protection on commercial VHS tapes? Would the 1995 THX tapes ("Faces" box set) have copy protection?

Copying them in spite of copy protection on the original media would probably violate the Millenium Digital Rights Act.
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I thought that copy protection existed on a lot of VHS releases. I remember seeing the Macrovision logo on a bunch of movies.

It may sound like it's against the MDRA based on wording, but there is the Fair Use Clause that allows for the creation of an extra copy of a piece of mass media for the purpose of backing something up. IT departments do it all the time with software. They will take a new piece of software and burn an exact replica of it. Then they store away the original and use the copy as the installation piece of software. If it gets scratched, broken, etc., they still have the original to make another useable copy from.
"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia'."
--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), The Princess Bride
-------------------------
Kevin A
Webmaster/Primary Cynic
kapgar.typepad.com
kapgar.com
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Yes, I know they started adding copy protection to VHS tapes; it could have been before 1995, because I know I saw it on a tape of one movie that would have been released around '94. I was just wondering whether the THX "Faces" set actually has any copy protection like that.
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I used to dub every movie I rented that I liked- never had a problem with copy protection.
Come join my forum at www.cultofthejedi.com
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Can someone recommend a LD player? I'm looking at a Pioneer CLD-909 and CLD-D505 in the same price range right now; which one should I go for?
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What's your budget?

The Pioneer CLD-703/704 is regarded as one of the best "budget" LD players. They're basically the same model except the 704 has an AC3 output, which you'd only need if you're planning on sending Dolby Digital to an outboard demodulator hooked up to a Dolby Digital receiver/preamp.
Forum Administrator

MTFBWY…A

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I'm looking for something around $100, used. Got a couple leads locally, the 909 is $75 and the D505 is $100 plus it comes with a few discs (would be great for testing the unit out, I figure.)

Do you happen to know which is the newer model?

I mean, my only other option that I can think of is eBay and I don't want to have to pay $30 for someone to ship me one of these monsters.

(Edit: Oh, and what would I need/want for getting Dolby 5.1 sound out of one of these?)


And, as an update to my original thought in this thread: what if you offered VHS sets (like the 1995 THX box sets) plus DVD backups? Problem is, it'd be quite a time-intensive process, creating a DVD backup of each set.