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I'm thinking lawsuit...

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When I purchased the 2000 release of the "trilogy", nowhere did it say on ANY packaging that it was the Special Editions. All it said was Star Wars Trilogy. I believe I have been misinformed. I am not allowed to return an opened video cassette. When the DVD's are released in September, will they say anywhere on them Special Edition, or New Versions? I THINK NOT. It is being advertised as 'the original trilogy' which in my opinion is misleading. I think we are being flat out lied to! What's the deal?
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I am surprised that no-one has taken GL to task (legally) over his various version and edits of Star Wars. Maybe his expensive lawyers have covered his ass - but I'm surprised no-one has tried for refunds, free copy of the latest version or compensation for being misled etc...

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Lucas never advertised them as original versions. Therefore there is no false advertising. What about Disneys false advertising. It did lable Fantasia DVD original and uncut but it wasn't. Same with The Lion King. Tell me where it says original versions on the package and then I will agree.
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I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the DVDs in September. Not because I'm buying them (I have absolutely no intention of buying them let alone even watching them) but because I want to see the reaction people have when they first see Hayden in ROTJ and other ridiculous changes that they don't yet know about. And although a LOT of people use the internet and whathaveyou, Ive noticed that most people interested in the DVDs don't know what their getting, precisely. Here's a typical conversation between me and a family member, friend, co-worker, ect...

Them: Hey, you like Star Wars, right? Are they out on DVD?

Me: The official release is in Sept.

Them: Cool! Those are movies are definitely ones I need to own.

Me: Good for you. Although you do realize that these aren't necessarily the ones you saw way back when.

Them: Huh?

Me: Well, George Lucas has "changed" some stuff around. For instance, Hayden Christiansen now appears in Return of the Jedi.

Them: Hayden who?

Me: Hayden Christiansen. He plays Anakin in the prequel movies. Basically, they cut out the scenes with the guy who originally played Luke's dad at the end, and have now added Hayden Christiansen in so, uh, everything "matches". There are also some other changes.

Them: Why'd they do that??????

Me: ...




Anyways, although the changes are still rumors, I just think that you're going to hear a noticeable befuddlement on the part of the general public when they pop their "Original Trilogy" into the DVD player and find out what they got. It will be interesting to say the least.
40,000 million notches away
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Originally posted by: jimbo
Lucas never advertised them as original versions. Therefore there is no false advertising. What about Disneys false advertising. It did lable Fantasia DVD original and uncut but it wasn't. Same with The Lion King. Tell me where it says original versions on the package and then I will agree.


Even if it's not blatant false advertising, it IS misleading. The DVDs are labelled as the original Star Wars Trilogy. It has NO mention of Special Editions anywhere (out of all the artwork we've seen, anyway). The Original Trilogy came out in 1977, 1980 and 1983. The Star Wars Trilogy - Special Edition came out in 1997. They're NOT the same thing. Like it or not, it IS still at least somewhat misleading.

There are probably going to be lots of returns of the set when people discover it's not the original versions they saw. Who knows, maybe Lucasfilm will even get sued for false advertising (which would serve them right for trying to pass off the Special Editions as the Original Trilogy as if the Special Editions were always there).

Too bad they won't make any notice of the sets being the Special Editions. At least the THX 1138 DVD is being labelled as the "George Lucas Director's Cut". Couldn't they even just put a small label on the Star Wars boxset saying these are the Special Editions (or Ultimate Editions or whatever they're now called)?
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Part of the problem is Lucas' unwillingness to acknowledge the originals.

On the '99 release, the probably don't say they are Special Edition because Lucas seems to think of the originals as 'rough cuts'.

In line with a thread which appears to have gone inactive (and doesn't really relate too much to this), Lucas should either acknowledge the original, or have his Oscar's taken away.
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Thats exactly what I'm saying. Is anyone here a lawyer or no one? I am getting real pissed off with Lucasfilm and the whole marketing 'machine' that tries to controle us. Lucas is not God! Why does nobody stand up to him? Everybody is too scared to lose there cushy jobs. Don't the many people working on these 'Lucas projects' release they are bad? Bunch of puppets. Another big problem , I think, is Rick McCallumn (?sp)
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How can someone sue. There is no law against something being somewhat misleading. It has to be blatet false advertising in order to get sued. It really reminds me of the bitch who sued McDonalds for the coffee being hot.
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Originally posted by: Mr.Coffee
Thats exactly what I'm saying. Is anyone here a lawyer or no one? I am getting real pissed off with Lucasfilm and the whole marketing 'machine' that tries to controle us. Lucas is not God! Why does nobody stand up to him? Everybody is too scared to lose there cushy jobs. Don't the many people working on these 'Lucas projects' release they are bad? Bunch of puppets. Another big problem , I think, is Rick McCallumn (?sp)


I agree. I, too, wonder why nobody in Lucasfilm seems to be standing up to Lucas. I mean with all the rumored changes like Hayden in Return of the Jedi and Boba's voice being changed, I'm wondering why none of the prequel actors who are going to be replacing the original ones (or in the case of Boba Fett, the voice) are protesting any of this. Do they all support it? Or are they all afraid of standing up to Lucas? Or does their contract say they have to do all that stuff, or what?

What might be a good idea is to express our unhappiness about the box set to the Jedi Council at starwars.com. I've seriously considered asking them why Lucas refuses to release the originals and why this box set isn't even being labelled as "Special Editions" (or whatever they are now) and so on. That might actually be our best chance of letting them know that we don't want the SEs, since the actual people from Lucasfilm that actually work on Star Wars are the ones that answer the questions there. If we can get this through to them, who knows... Maybe they'll listen, maybe they won't (probably won't, unfortunately), but it might be worth a shot. Especially since there's that letter writing campaign thing today to Lucasfilm.
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Originally posted by: Spyder X
There are probably going to be lots of returns of the set when people discover it's not the original versions they saw. Who knows, maybe Lucasfilm will even get sued for false advertising (which would serve them right for trying to pass off the Special Editions as the Original Trilogy as if the Special Editions were always there).


With return policies at stores these days, this ain't gonna happen either. Unless there is a physical defect to the set, they won't accept returns. And, even then, they only exchange it. The only way to return DVDs anymore is if it is still sealed and you have a receipt. But for people to realize it's different, they need to open it.

Gundark, any word on the possibility of lawsuits? You're the legal eagle here.
"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
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From what I remember of my business law course, the legal ground GL is on right now is pretty shakey. Despite what Jimbo thinks, it is actually illegal to conduct misleading advertising. The problem is, most people don't get called on it. The fact of the matter is, GL is selling the Special Editions. They were introduced to the public as the Special Editions, they were branded as the Special Editions. Therefore, GL has an obligation to continue using that branding when refering to these new "improved" versions of his original trilogy. Defaulting to calling them Star Wars is certainly going to cause confusion amongst the average consumer. I'll wager the majority of them won't bother returning it, they likely aren't fanatical enough in their fandom to do such, but you can bet there will at least be some grumbling. As for what a lawsuit would accomplish, it's hard to say. Civil law in the US is a lot different than it is here in Canada. The crux of it will be to prove that some manor of signifigant harm was done to the consumer as a result of this misrepresentation, either emotionally or physically. Since neither is terribly likely, I'd say the chances of a lawsuit doing anything at all are really slim.

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Originally posted by: Pagz
The crux of it will be to prove that some manor of signifigant harm was done to the consumer as a result of this misrepresentation, either emotionally or physically. Since neither is terribly likely, I'd say the chances of a lawsuit doing anything at all are really slim.


Well, inside I'm crying. Does that count as emotional harm?
"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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Originally posted by: Bossk
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Originally posted by: Spyder X
There are probably going to be lots of returns of the set when people discover it's not the original versions they saw. Who knows, maybe Lucasfilm will even get sued for false advertising (which would serve them right for trying to pass off the Special Editions as the Original Trilogy as if the Special Editions were always there).


With return policies at stores these days, this ain't gonna happen either. Unless there is a physical defect to the set, they won't accept returns. And, even then, they only exchange it. The only way to return DVDs anymore is if it is still sealed and you have a receipt. But for people to realize it's different, they need to open it.


Ah, you're right. I didn't think of that. So it looks like there won't be returns after all. But who knows, there'll probably at least be complaints from people who don't like the new changes and who weren't aware of them until they bought the set.
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and I can't wait. I think it's going to be funny (in a dimented sort of way)
40,000 million notches away
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The thing to do is to try to return it directly to 20th century fox. Or at least do a lot of bitchin' about it. I think the media should get involved. That may stirr things up a bit.
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Nobody sued Disney for blatenly lying about Fantasia or The Lion King so why would they get Lucas for being a little sketchy. What if the DVDs say so in the small print. You don't know do you.
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Jimbo, I never said they'd get GL for being sketchy, I said the legal ground GL is on is sketchy. Same is true of Disney in regards to the Fantasia issue. The thing is, in both cases, no one ever takes these companies to task, so it slides. As for the Lion King, it was released as "The Lion King: Special Edition" so there's no legal issue there.

Bossk, I feel for your inner crying, I really do. The trick will be to convince the courts that you inner crying is worth some kind of monetary compensation. That's the hard part

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Actually with The Lion King. It has two versions on the disc. Original theatrical and Special Edition. The only difference between the two is a new song which is simply branched. However disney did change the animation in a few places throughout the movie. The singing crocodiles, the waterfal, and the polon dust scenes have been reanimated and no option on the DVD is given to watch it without this. Therefore lableing this as the original version is incorrect. As for Fantasia when it originally was premired in the 1940s the segment with Greek Mythology featured black centaurs that acted as servents to the white centaurs. They have been removed on all video release. If that is not bad enough Disney labled the DVD original and uncut. While the editing on the DVD is different then earlier VHS releases it is still edited and therefore Disney is blatenly lying. Lucas never labled this release orginal or uncut. It just says Star Wars trilogy. The Special Edition is the Star Wars trilogy and therefore there is no legal problem with what Lucas is doing.
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It is being advertised as the 'original' star wars trilogy. The word original is in question and the fact that special edition does not appear, however it does in the credits at the end after its too late!
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Originally posted by: jimbo
The Special Edition is the Star Wars trilogy and therefore there is no legal problem with what Lucas is doing.


No. Legally, Lucas is on shakey ground right now, as Pagz said. Read his post again.

The Special Editions and the Original Star Wars Trilogy aren't exactly the same things. There IS a difference, period. The Original Trilogy was released in 1977, 1980 and 1983 and consisted of the first three Star Wars movie ever made. The Special Editions are modified, newer versions of those movies with new effects, some new scenes, some modified scenes, audio changes, etc. They're NOT exactly the same. The older versions are the original Star Wars Trilogy and the newer versions are the Star Wars Trilogy - Special Edition. Lucasfilm can get sued for false advertisment (even if it's quite unlikely).
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Class Action Lawsuit anyone?

“You know, when you think about it, the Ewoks probably just crap over the sides of their tree-huts.”

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These movies will neither be original editions or the special editions. The special editions were strictly the 1997 theatrical release. Since he has changed many things. The new DVDs he does change the Greedo/han scene apparently as well as other things, there has been more tinkering. As a matter of what originals are we referring to. George Luca$ changed Star Wars from the original edit (30-40% different footage then we've seen - see my "lost footage thread"), then upon release of star wars (3 weeks later), he changed some scenes, dialogue, opening scrawl and title to A New Hope. How about the Imax editions, DVD editions, theatrical editions, UK editions of the new movies...all different. For better or worse (I think worse read my "that feeling" thread)...they continue to evolve. I have listed on the SE vs. OT forum a list of all the changes to the Archival Editions that will be released in High-Def in May 2007. It continues to evolve. So in fact, Luca$ could clearly make the argument that 1. It is not false advertisement as these are not the SE 2. This was his original vision (that too has evolved some) that he is now able to realize with the modern technology. 3. He has old scripts and notes to bakc up most of that 4. He is Luca$ the $$$ man, try and sue him. I am not defending him by any means, but a lawsuit is silly.
16 years I wait and this is what I get???
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Lucas may have notes and scripts to back up some of the changes he's made, but not all of them. The Greedo shooting first change is a prime example. fprgetting all that though, it doesn't matter if he can make the arguement that these aren't the special editions. So what> they aren't the original either. If he wants to get around the legalities of it, he would have to dub these something else like Star Wars Trilogy Version 3.0 or some other such nonsense. The Original trilogy is just that, the original trilogy. No matter how much GL wants to erase it from history, it can't be done. Calling this release "The Star Wars trilogy" without any kind of qualifier to let prospective consumers know that while these are star wars movies, they aren't the original versions, puts him on shakey ground. If Francis Ford Copolla went back and reshot and edited the Godfather films, and then released it as the godfather trilogy, he'd be in the same boat. That's why appocalypse now Redux is called what it is, because it's not Appocalypse Now, it's something else. So, just because these are these versions are the Star Wars trilogy to George, doesn't make them the Star Wars trilogy under the law.

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Oh my gosh... quit complaining.

George Lucas isn't going to release the original theatrical editions, period.

And there is no false advertising: The box says "Star Wars Trilogy"
It doesn't say that it is the original theatrical edition.

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