By Lisa Barton
He likes action films. She thinks they?re too violent. But through advances in film editing McKay and Ashley King have found a happy medium.
The King family of Provo, along with other families and individuals across the nation, have more options when it comes to viewing edited films now that the Family Movie Act has been passed.
President Bush signed the FMA last Wednesday while the management of Salt lake-based ClearPlay Inc. breathed a sigh of relief.
In conjunction with the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, the FMA legalizes parental viewing control companies like ClearPlay, allowing them to continue producing products that edit explicit material in movies.
Matt Jarman, co-founder of ClearPlay, said the success of the bill came from concerned citizens contacting their congressman in favor of the legislation.
?It?s a real ?grassroots? story,? he said.
Matt and his brother Lee founded ClearPlay in 1999, centering business in parental viewing control. The company uses consumer electronic products like DVD players and recorders to edit explicit material in movies, although it does not alter the DVD itself.
The entrepreneurship looked as though it was coming to a halt when eight Hollywood studios, a group of directors and the Directors Guild of America, filed a lawsuit against the company and similar businesses in September of 2002.
Filmmakers said altering the subject matter infringes on copyrights, according to The Associated Press.
Guild President Martha Coolridge said it is wrong to change the product of filmmakers, citing ClearPlay specifically.
?What these companies are doing is wrong, plain and simple,? she said, according to the Guild?s Web site.
Even though legislation has been signed permitting ClearPlay to continue business, the suit has not been resolved. With the passing of the bill, Hollywood executives argue that ClearPlay should be required to pay additional fees for altering their work.
Owners of ClearPlay have filed a motion for re-judgment.
?It?s a daunting prospect to be a new company being sued by the likes of Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorcese,? Matt said.
The Jarman brothers looked to Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who introduced the FMA with the support of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Sen. Hatch said in a press release the bill helps to close ?significant gaps? in Utah?s copyright laws. FMA guarantees the company?s license to compete without scrutiny from the DGA.
?This is tremendous news for ClearPlay,? said Bill Aho, CEO of ClearPlay, according to a press release.
Calling the bill approval a ?victory for families,? Aho said it benefits the growth and development for the company and parents? ability to filter movie content.
In agreement with Aho?s statement, Matt said there is significant growth potential in parental control technology because of this legislation. He said he plans to spend a lot of time preparing for future growth.
?We want to be to parental control the way Dolby is to premiere audio,? Matt said.
