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Proposed Settlement to Result in
Captioning of Most DVD Special Features
By Frank Bowe, Hearing Loss Association of America
June 3, 2006 - Silver Spring, MD - The Los Angeles Superior Court in May preliminarily approved a settlement that, once approved in final form by the Court, is expected to result in the captioning of "special features" as well as "feature presentations" on millions of DVDs.
Boltz v. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., in the proposed settlement, calls for the defendants (The Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros., Universal Studios, MGM, and Sony Pictures) to caption most content on most DVDs for the next five years.
The plaintiff, Russ E. Boltz, alleged that DVDs labeled "cc" or "captioned" rarely included captioning of special features (interviews with directors and stars, 'making of' videos, etc.).
Boltz said in his complaint that when he bought or rented a DVD, he anticipated that the "cc" covered all contents of the product, not just part. He believed that the mis-labeling of DVDs misled consumers. Boltz hired the Mills Law Firm, of San Rafael, CA, to represent him.
Under terms of the proposed settlement, known as the "DVD Closed Captioning and Subtitling Settlement," the five studios will caption most special features of their DVDs for the next five years.
The exact details differ according to studio. For example, Disney and Warner will caption approximately 80% of all the DVDs they sell. Because DVD sales number in the many millions, this is expected to result in the captioning of hundreds of millions of DVD special features.
As a result, deaf and hard of hearing consumers throughout the nation will be able to enjoy all DVD content, and not just the feature presentation itself.
Additionally, the studios have agreed to make payments totaling $275,000 to three prominent national organizations representing members of the class. These are the Hearing Loss Association of America, the National Association of the Deaf, and TDI.
About 60% of film revenues for the studios comes from DVD sales and rentals. Thus, Sony Pictures, to take just one, makes more money from DVDs than from movie distribution to theatres. DVDs are also big business for Blockbuster, Movie Gallery, and the online Netflix.
A "plain English" FAQ (frequently asked questions) outline is posted at www.themillsfirm.com. Full legal notices will appear in major newspapers and magazines. These are posted at www.dvdcclabelingclasssettlement.com.
Those legal notices are written in "legalese". They were prepared by the defendants in the case.
The Court is expected to rule on finalizing the settlement prior to Labor Day. At that time, the Mills Law Firm may present to the judge letters it has received from deaf and hard of hearing Americans who wrote in support of the settlement.
To express your support, send a letter to: The Mills Law Firm, 369-B Third Street, Box 333, San Rafael, CA 94901.
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