Beat the bootlegs

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

As I noted here (http://p081.ezboard.com/fkungfufandomfrm1.showMessageRange?topicID=11380.t opic&start=21&stop=40), I'm setting up this thread in an attempt to determine if a company is selling bootlegged movies in major retailers, how to contact the rightsholders for said movies (or major retailers), and to find out as much information (especially business contact information) about bootleg companies as possible. I'll also throw in some contact information for major (US) retailers to aid in any letter-writing campaigns. All I ask is that you wait until I finish the list before including any of this information in your letters.

I should note that for purposes of this thread, the term "bootleg" shall be applied to any movie that is being sold/distributed in a major retailer ("brick and mortar" or online) without the permission of the rights holder. This means a company deliberately selling films it doesn't have the rights to, companies unwittingly buying the rights from the wrong company, or selling something thinking that it's "public domain" (even though US copyright laws state that all foreign works that were once considered PD now have their rights restored to their original owners, just as long as the work isn't public domain in its country of origin). In fact, you can read more about it in this court case. (http://tinyurl.com/oxtuo)

Oh, and one more thing before I begin, this thread will be a work in progress that will constantly be updated. I'm only going to post about a few companies right now, but there will be more in the future.

Feel free to help out and post any information you know (except personal information). Information reguarding business contact information, and film rightsholders are greatly appreciated. Please refrain from using this information in letters until this thread is completed. Thank you

----------------------------Retailers-----------------------

Amazon.com - It's practically impossible to find any contact information on their official website. However, this website (http://www.consumeraction.gov/corpora.shtml) says that they can be reached at:

Amazon.com, Inc. Customer Service
PO Box 81226
Seattle, WA 98108-1226
Phone: 206-266-1000
Toll free: 1-800-201-7575
Fax: 206-266-2335

I've also found that Amazon.com is offering downloads of martial arts titles... (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198647/)

Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=page&id=cat12104)

Trans World Entertainment (http://www.twec.com/corpsite/corporate/contact.cfm) (Strawberries, FYE, Coconuts, Suncoast, etc) - Sadly, I was unable to find their physical mailing address. I should also note that they have some sort of tie-in deal with a shady DVD company called Trinity Entertainment/905 Corporation (Since I don't know if they did any martial arts stuff, I won't be talking about them here).

Borders (http://https://www.bordersstores.com/care/care.jsp?page=7)

Newbury Comics

Wal-Mart

Amoeba Music

Target

Stop and Shop

Walgreens

CVS

Sav-On

KMart (Aren't they going out of business? Do I really need to list them?)

More to come...(Feel free to suggest companies)

-----------------------Shady Companies--------------------

Crash Cinema/Crash Media Group/Anime Crash/Crash Entertainment/Venom Mob/Mondo Crash - Most of their website is down, so it is unknown if they are out of business or not. What I *do* know is that IFD (http://www.ifdfilms.com) never licensed any movies to a "Crash Cinema", despite Crash selling several of their ninja movies. According to this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Xyba3uXD988J:www.animenewsnetwork.c o
m/press-release/2005-05-03/crash-media-group-goes-psp-and-mtv+%2B%22crash
+media+group%22+mtv&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1), Crash "licensed" several clips from martial arts movies to MTV in 2005. This website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Fg1xi1dEGVUJ:www.animenewsnetwork.c o
m/press-release/2005-06-14/anime-crash-at-lima-2005+%2B%22crash+media+gro
up%22+%22new+york%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) gives their contact information. Just in case you can't read that, the address is:

The Crash Media Group
BOOTH #4725
244 West 54th St., 9th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10019
Tel: 212.586.3090
Fax: 212.765.1987
crashmediagroupinc.com

Although their website is mostly down, I was able to recover this document (http://web.archive.org/web/20060111064643/http://www.crashmediagroupinc.com/images/umdc/CrashMediaGroupInc.pdf) with the help of archive.org. Said document gives their corporate history (including a bit of hilarious irony), division names (including their bootleg sublabel, Venom Mob), and other business-type stuff.

I've also found that Crash DVD are (were?) distributed by Koch Entertainment. (http://www.kochb2b.com/Info/ReadPR.aspx?id=80) Koch's business address is:

KOCH Entertainment Distribution.
22 Harbor Park Drive
Port Washington, NY 11050

Online: kochdistribution.com

And to make matters even stupider, Koch turned around and licensed several martial arts titles to an online download service called EZTakes (http://www.pr9.net/ent/movies/4124july.html). As for EZ Takes, their contact information is:

EZTakes, Inc.
251 Northampton Street, Suite D
Easthampton, MA 01027

Main Phone: +1(413) 529-0870
Fax: +1 (425) 969-8132
eztakes.com

They have a large martial arts section, but I don't know how much stuff is or isn't licensed. You can see it at eztakes.com/store/genres/Martial-Arts-Movies.jsp?page=1

Saturn Productions/Passion Productions/Miracle Pictures/1st Miracle Pictures/Age Video/Peacock Films- Some claim that they're a company that distributes porno movies to hotel chains, but I don't know if that's true. I do know that it's impossible to find any sort of business contact information for them; the closest I found was a reference to the above companies being divisions of "PMC Corp. Willmington DE". Can anyone help me out?

UPDATE: I have determined that "Willmington, DE" is a misspelling of Wilmington, DE (Delaware). Also, someone at the Latarnia version of this thread noted that early Beverly Wilshire DVDs had a credit for Saturn Productions on the cover. Does anyone have a scan of one of those covers?

UPDATE: I found a cover scan (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/36thChamber_Saturn_BuddhasPalm.jpg) proving the connection between the two companies

They released tons of martial arts movies, including a lot of so-called "public domain" movies (THE BODYGUARD, the STREETFIGHTER series, etc.) and unlicensed IFD movies (Sorry, that name's going to get brought up a lot in this thread. I contacted them about some of these companies back when I was under the impression that the forums were infested with spyware). On their DVD of a comedy movie called THE THREE MUSCATELS, a DVD menu (http://www.sweetposer.tk/media/3muscat3.jpg) appeared after the movie finished. Their DVD of LOOSE SHOES had "...a little more than half an hour of black screen and test pattern after the film proper ends (LOOSE SHOES only runs 74 minutes)". (http://community.livejournal.com/cheap_dvds/40778.html)

Ground Zero Entertainment (http://p081.ezboard.com/fkungfufandomfrm26.showMessage?topicID=1515.topic) - Are they still around? Don't let their name being linked fool you, that just goes to another post I did about them. For proof of them bootlegging/doing business with George Tan's Eastern Heroes company (which I also need more information about), you can go here (http://p081.ezboard.com/fkungfufandomfrm26.showMessage?topicID=1506.topic) .

Xenon Pictures - Yep, they're still around and are quite successful (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:vRSJnhK2TFYJ:www.nalip.org/conference2006/speakers.html+day+without+a+mexican+xenon+profits&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6) as an independent DVD distributor. Apparently, they made a lot of money off A DAY WITHOUT A MEXICAN (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117939946.html?categoryid=19&cs=1). It's also worthy of note that they once got sued by Muhammad Ali (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.boxing/browse_thread/thread/9606079b0df4e6f8/be3b55436b81cfb8?lnk=st&q=%22arena+home+video%22&rnum=10&hl=en#be3b55436b81cfb8). Xenon's website can be found at xenonpictures.com

I also discovered that if you do a "combination search" for Xenon at copyright.gov, you can find some entries for them. Oddly enough, most of their listings only copyright the box art.

Ground Zero Entertainment - Well, either they're well-hidden or they've gone out of business, because their website is long gone. For awhile, they were selling Mexican wrestling movies (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/archive/index.php?t-11783.html) and made some noise about wanting to distribute anime. I also stumbled across references to them getting sued by an anime distributor (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:zRG4WzY4iKAJ:www.animenewsservice.c om/archives/July3.htm+%22ground+zero+entertainment%22+martial+ arts&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=41&ie=UTF-8) and Lil' Kim (http://www.entlawdigest.com/story.cfm?storyID=10738). In fact, the Lil' Kim trial revealed that GZ didn't have their phone number listed in Los Angeles (http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=entertainment&id=3250542). Shady, shady stuff.

NOTE: Sometime in the future, I will detail GZ's links to NS Video and (possibly) Lion Video.

Entertainment Programs Inc - I've seen some of their "Master Arts" DVDs in stores, but the screenshots on the boxes look like they're pulled from a VHS. The only other thing I know about them is that they've linked to a company called "Power Program DVD". You can see their martial arts section at entertainmentprogramsinc.com/martialarts.asp

Eden Entertainment -This website (http://www.retroslashers.net/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=11645124
90&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&) says that they're a division of Magnum Video. Eden released DVDs of the following IFD movies: CATMAN IN LETHAL TRACK, CATMAN IN BOXER'S BLOW, THUNDER NINJA KIDS: WONDERFUL MISSION, THUNDER NINJA KIDS: GOLDEN ADVENTURE, THUNDER NINJA KIDS: THE HUNT FOR THE DEVIL BOXER, THUNDER NINJA KIDS: LITTLE KICKBOXER, KICKBOXER FROM HELL, and THE FIGHTER, THE WINNER. When I last talked to IFD, I was told that they had never heard of Eden Entertainment; I'm planning on asking them if Magnum ever had/still has the rights to those titles.

They also sold a DVD of ROBO VAMPIRE, but I don't know who Filmark sold the Robo Vampire rights to after they went belly-up. They also seem to have "licensed" all their titles to a downloadable movies website called Transmission Films(transmissionfilms.com).

Interestingly enough, this website (http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=80595400069) claims that they're distributed by Front Row Entertainment.

Front Row Entertainment/Double D Distribution - These guys actually got sued for their DVD of THE BRAINIAC awhile back, but they've still got it listed on their website (Vintage did something similar with the Mexican titles they got in trouble over, too). Suspicious martial arts titles include the STREET FIGHTER series, Jackie Chan's Lo Wei movies, FISTS OF THE GOLDEN MONKEY, etc.

frontrowentertainment.com doesn't give too many details about the company, but I managed to find their contact information on another website. (http://www.ce.org/Membership/Directory/MemberDetail.aspx?id=000010017355)

Vintage Home Entertainment - As you can see by their website, they sell a lot of "public domain" martial arts movies. I'm pretty sure that the US Copyright Restoration Action (as noted in this court case) would keep THE CHINESE CONNECTION and FISTS OF FURY out of the public domain. I'm trying to verify if some of the other martial arts titles are licensed or not, and I'll report my findings ASAP. I should also note that they're linked to a shady-looking company called "Blue Laser," Red Distribution (which is linked to Sony!), and Blast Films.

They didn't provide any business contact information on their website, but I did manage to find it listed on a vendor profile site (http://show.vsdahomeentertainment.com/videoshow/v42/exhibitor_list/displa
yEx.cvn?exbID=1013):

VHE Inc.
294 20th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
USA
Phone: (718) 369-8942 x 225
Fax: (718) 369-8945
www.vhe.cc

Media Movies and More/Disc Plaza/Cascadia/Digital Multimedia Limited/Shaolin Cinema/DigitalDisc/DDC Labs - A Canadian DVD company that's well-known for shoddy VHS transers (until they became MMM and we known for DVDs that didn't work in all players and play like defective VCDs). Suspicious titles include THE DEVIL'S SWORD (I highly doubt that they got the rights considering that Mondo Macabro did a DVD of this), Jackie Chan's Lo Wei movies, and they've even got a dollar DVD of GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER and GODZILLA VS. MEGALON! There's no way they licensed those movies from Toho at that price.

Contact information:

Toll Free: 1-888-233-1136
Fax: 604-233-1065
mediamoviesandmore.com
mediamovies.biz

Apparently, they're distributed by a company called Maple Technologies (mapletech.biz/index.html) as well.

UPDATE: Two new aliases for the company.

Tango Entertainment/Hollywood DVD - Okay, this is an odd case. Some of Tango's non martial arts titles (DRAGONWORLD, LITTLE GHOST) were previously released by Full Moon Entertainment (http://www.fullmoondirect.com/) and the Kushner-Locke Company I don't know if this is some sort of shady dealing or if they licensed those titles. However, I did find some material that suggests the Kushner-Locke stuff is licensed: A form noting that the two companies had done business in the past (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:7J3iPTE00vQJ:sec.edgar-online.com/2005/07/07/0000950129-05-006908/Section7.asp+%22tango+entertainment%22+Kushner-Locke+Company&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4) and a blurb about them acquiring the KL library (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:gfkU6rFZPYUJ:www.videoageinternatio nal.com/archives/paperclips/2004/November/111004.htm+%22tango+entertainment%22+Kushner-Locke+Company&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7).

However, just because a company has licensed some movies doesn't necessarily mean that they're not bootlegging; I'm just trying to be fair here. After all, note that their Hollywood DVD division (http://www.homemediaretailing.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=8077) lists several IFD titles (which are popular bootleg targets). I'm working to see if they actually licensed those movies or not, though.

It's also interesting how Hollywood DVD shares some of the same movies (and name) with a British company called "Hollywood DVD LTD". But it's unknown if they're directly linked. You can find the websites for Tango Entertainment and Hollywood DVD at tango-entertainment.com
and dvd-hollywood.com

Hollywood DVD LTD - I also found out that they were created by the "Air Music and Media Group" and was liquidated (http://www.ukdata.com/numbers/01700872.html). Perhaps that's where Tango got the name and some of the films from for their "Hollywood" line? However, the main company is still around (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:rciXpPHaM_0J:www.growthcompany.co.u k/companies/articles/rns/536999/hollywood-dvd-ltd.thtml+%22Hollywood+DVD+Limited+%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1). It also seems that there were some legal troubles (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:7KHzjQ712zUJ:www.londonstockexchang e.com/LSECWS/IFSPages/MarketNewsPopup.aspx%3Fid%3D1278328%26source%3DRNS +%22Hollywood+DVD+Limited+%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4) with Hollywood DVD Limited...

It's also worth noting that the Air Music and Media Group has connections to Legacy Entertainment, a cheap DVD company known for (suspected) bootlegs, including some martial arts titles (tinyurl.com/2u82o6).

EastWest - According to IFD, they've never licensed anything to EastWest, despite the fact that they sell DVDs of DEFENDERS OF SPACE, PROTECTORS OF UNIVERSE, SPACE THUNDER KIDS, NINJA CHAMPION, and some other titles that I can't list at the moment due to browser issues on the computer I'm using . I'll update this part as soon as I can see EastWest's DVD selection again.

And if you click on this link (http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8190/1651/1600/fearless_fighters.0.jpg), you'll notice that they released a fullscreen DVD of FEARLESS FIGHTERS. I bet Image Entertainment will be interested to hear about this...

Contact info:

www.eastwestdvd.com/home.aspx?action=Contact

EAST WEST ENTERTAINMENT LLC
173 SECOND AVENUE
BROOKLYN, NY 11215

TELEPHONE: 718-832-6023
FAX: 718-832-6100

If anyone reading this wants me to, I can post a partial list of their releases in this thread; just let me know. You should be able to see a partial listing of their martial arts titles on their website, though (I say partial since they don't update their site).

UPDATE: This DVD cover scan (http://tinyurl.com/24u2ek) provided me with the following information:

East West Entertainment LLC
7230 Coldwater Canyon Avenue
North Hollywood, CA 91635

Plugging that address into Google yielded:

Worldwide Distributors
7230 Coldwater Canyon Avenue
North Hollywood, CA (California) 91605-4203
Phone: (818) 782-3300
Business Types: Video Discs & Tapes, Video Tapes & Discs Manufacturers (http://tinyurl.com/2b3ajr)

Treasure Box Collection/Family Value Collection - Now this is embarassing. You see, due to my stance on buying DVDs that I suspect are unlicensed, I tend to ignore their releases. And as a result, I can only name one of their martial arts releases: SNAKE CRANE SECRET (I know there are more, but I can't remember their names).

Interestingly enough, this review (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qzcELew6frWBZspks_7SsnUuv9VNTUA-?cq=1&p=100#comments) notes that the transfer has been stolen from a Platinum Disc Corporation release of the film. And here's the really annoying part: Even if SNAKE CRANE SECRET was public domain, the issue of whether or not one can recycle someone else's transfer is still an issue (I've heard arguments from both sides and there doesn't seem to be any definitive laws on the books about this).

However, there's no doubt in my mind that this company is up to no good. Awhile back, they released several horror movies around Halloween that had stolen transfers (For example, their CASTLE OF BLOOD DVD was a direct copy of Synapse's DVD). That, among other issues I'll mention later, led to Dollar Tree having to recall the entire line (http://p210.ezboard.com/Family-Value-horror-DVDs-removed-from-Dollar-Tree-shelves/fthelatarniaforumsfrm15.showMessage?topicID=86.top ic). On top of that, their DVDs often use movie descriptions swiped from the Internet Movie Database or Amazon and some of their DVDs use artwork swiped from other companies (like Alpha Video and Retromedia). (http://p210.ezboard.com/Halloween-Double-Feature-Cheapies/fthelatarniaforumsfrm15.showMessage?topicID=82.top ic)

Treasure Box/Family Value is right up there with Saturn when it comes to being hard to track down. I've heard talk of their address being a P.O. Box, but I have yet to find it. Their website, treasureboxdvd.com is down and they're fond of reusing the same UPC code on their packaging (EastWest also does that as well). There's a rumor going around that they're really Unicorn Video, mostly due to the fact that when their DVDs are rung up at Walgreens, "Unicorn DVD" appears on the register. There's also a rumor that Platinum/Echo Bridge is behind the company (perhaps sparked by the fact that their YOU BET YOUR LIFE DVD has an episode where the Platinum watermark appears).

Beverly Wilshire Filmworks/Telefilms International/Cinevu - Run by one John Matarazzo (Since he slaps his name all over the DVDs and his now-defunct website, I feel that it's okay to mention him by name), Beverly Wilshire soon became known for cheap DVDs of Mexican horror movies, martial arts titles, and other films. Beverly Wilshire was also known for movies suddenly stopping, having static appear, and then have the movie start again as if someone was replacing film reels or flipping over a laserdisc (especially with the Mexican movies).

For awhile, many of the martial arts titles were given the fake widescreen treatment by adding black bars to a fullscreen print (THE FLYING GUILLOTINE was a victim of this), but Matarazzo later switched to just using fullscreen prints and claiming they were widescreen on the packaging (which I believe was done with STORY OF THE DRAGON).

Then news of a lawsuit, filed by the owners of the movie MANSON, reached the internet (Here's (http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-353929.html) a more recent reference to it). There are two versions to the story: One holds that the MANSON owner sued Beverly Wilshire directly, while the other claims that they only sued the retailers who carried it (and scared them from ever stocking Beverly Wilshire titles again).

They had several titles in common with Saturn, leading to rumors that the two companies were in cahoots. I don't thionk anything was proven, though. Here are all of the other martial arts titles that I can remember:

DEADLY CHINA HERO (edited version of LAST HERO IN CHINA; I think this might've been a laserdisc dupe?)
THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS
WU TANG MASTER (THE KUNG FU CULT MASTER, fake widescreen)
KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (Edited tv print, fake? widescreen encoding)
GRAND MASTER OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU
MARTIAL MONKS OF SHAOLIN TEMPLE
MAGNIFICENT BODYGUARDS
SHAOLIN WOODEN MEN
JACKIE CHAN: THE INVINCIBLE FIGHTER

I recognize some IFD stuff (which I'm in the process of confirming whether or not they licensed to him), some Shaw stuff, some Jackie Chan/Lo Wei stuff, so this all looks very shady. I've also heard rumors that one of their Shaw releases would occasionally change into a TV weather report!

A year or so later, Matarazzo created a new company called Cinevu. I'd imagine that the MANSON lawsuit hurt his abilities to find a duplicator, seeing as how all of Cinevu's titles were DVD-Rs! Here's the sad part: Strawberries (and presumably other Trans World stores), Tower Records, and Amazon.com all carry/carried Cinevu titles. Just as he had done before, he slapped his name all over the DVDs and continued to claim that beat-up VHS prints were remastered and in widescreen.

Here are all the martial arts titles that he released (that I know of):

JACKIE CHAN-WHO IS HE? (compilation)
THUNDERBOLT
PROJECT A

It's also worth noting that he released DVD-Rs of GHIDRA (sic) THE THREE HEADED MONSTER (http://www.digitalmonsterisland.com/ghidrah_tthm_cinevu.html) and GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (http://www.digitalmonsterisland.com/g_vs_mothra_cinevu.html) (which already had a legitimate American DVD release at the time).

Toho, the rightsholder of those movies, is extremely protective of its properties and presumably took legal action against him. I say "presumably" since I only know that they were aware of the DVDs, but knowing Toho, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that a lawsuit happened.

Speaking of Toho, Warner Brothers/Rhino learned of Toho's protectiveness the hard way when they "licensed" GODZILLA VS. MEGALON from a "public domain" company for a MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 DVD boxset (http://forrestcrow.proboards47.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=deep&thread=1151622024&page=6#1151949866). Said boxset (Volume 10) has been since recalled by retailers (http://jabootu.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3064).

cinevu.com disappeared, perhaps as a result of legal action (either by Toho, another company that also has the name "Cinevu" (http://imdb.com/company/co0101494), or some other party), and it's assumed that Cinevu is gone. Then again, it is always possible that he's still selling stuff on Amazon (Do a DVD search for "cinevu" if you want to check).

I've heard references to Cinevu doing stuff with "New Media" and "Downtown Entertainment", but I was unable to find anything else about those companies.

I did find Beverly Wilshire/Cinevu's contact information (it's a P.O. Box), but it appears that it's also Mr. Matarazzo's personal P.O. Box. As a result, I will not be posting it here.

Here's (http://www.kaijuphile.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-1956.html) where I learned about Toho's knowledge of Cinevu. Check out the note about what Amazon.com had to say when they learned they were selling a bootleg!

Diamond Entertainment - Easily one of the sleazier cheap DVD companies out there. Diamond is known for using transfers with the Goodtimes Home Video "GT" watermark on them, especially their THE LITTLE RASCALS/OUR GANG and THE THREE STOOGES set. In fact, the THREE STOOGES has a short that ends with a VHS quality scene featuring the company's logo (showing that they recycle their old VHS release) and their release of THE SWING PARADE OF 1946 has a "GT" watermark throughout all but the opening credits sequence. To make matters even weirder, the Goodtimes version of that movie used a video-generated "SWING PARADE" title card and the Diamond version's opening is obviously taken from a VHS tape (due to the video lines).

It's also been documented (http://braineater.com/fulci/hbtc.html) that Diamond's HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY DVD is taken from a laserdisc. They even left in the "End Side B" message generated by the player!

I also know that a Red Skelton collection from Diamond that has the first few minutes of an unlisted Christmas episode appear after another holiday episode finishes. Other flaws include a black ghosting effect that appears around characters at times, the same episode getting repeated on one of the discs, and occasional sound distortions that make it obvious that the DVD was sourced from a tape. I've heard that several episodes of the Red Skelton Show are in the public domain, but I don't know the specifics. Still, those examples don't say a whole lot aobut Diamond.

They also had a VIRUS DVD that was removed from their website (and from stores) for awhile, although I've seen the DVD in stores from time to time.

Diamond also got sued (http://www.entlawdigest.com/search.cfm?IssueID=46) over a LAUREL AND HARDY collection. I don't know the outcome, though. And to be fair, getting sued doesn't nescessarily mean that one has done anything wrong. But still...

They put out a spaghetti western collection had some movies that were believed to be sourced from Japanese DVDs (with the subtitles matted out), Eurovista, old Brentwood releases, and a company called "Wild East" that supposedly had the rights to some titles. I say "supposedly" since the confirmation (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/printthread.php?t=14610&page=2&pp=15) came from someone who identified themselves as a friend of the people who work at Wild East. If anyone can provide more information about this, I'd be greatful. I've also heard that this set was prone to freezing up in players and had lots of issues with artifacting and that several titles (including THE FIGHTING FISTS OF SHANGHAI JOE) were removed from a reissue of that collection. However, I've never seen this set before, you I can't confirm that those titles were removed at the moment.

But since this is a martial arts forum, let's look at their MA titles:

KUNG FU: THE PUNCH OF DEATH
JACKIE AND THE 36 CRAZY FISTS
SHOGUN'S NINJA
THE CRIPPLED MASTERS
KUNG FU FEVER
CHAMP VS. CHAMP
THE CLONES OF BRUCE LEE (supposedly widescreen)
DRAGON LEE VS. THE FIVE BROTHERS
CHINESE HERCULES
THE TATTOO CONNECTION (Doesn't Pathfinder have the rights to this?)
THE REAL BRUCE LEE
FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH
THE STREET FIGHTER
THE RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER
THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE
SISTER STREET FIGHTER
LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI
DRAGON PRINCESS
FISTS OF FURY
THE CHINESE CONNECTION
THE FIGHTING FISTS OF SHANGHAI JOE (as part of a westerns collection)

There might've been a few more, but that's the bulk of their martial arts releases. I'm under the impression that New Line still owns the STREETFIGHTER titles (After all, they put the kibosh on Image Entertainment's planned box set (http://tinyurl.com/fvvjj)) and possibily THE CRIPPLED MASTERS. I was once told that these were public domain since New Line's home video license expired, which is BS since when licensed expire, the video rights for that country revert back to the original owner (unless the films were public domain in their country of origin). IFD might own one of those (I'll have to check) Dragon Lee movies and aren't THE CHINESE CONNECTION and FISTS OF FURY owned by Fortune Star/Fox?. Oh, and the box art for the New Line sourced-stuff were all direct lifts from the original movie posters (and in the case of THE CRIPPLED MASTERS, the New Line cover art).

I should also note that I prefer to gather up as many film titles to ask questions about prior to e-mailing a company so I can get it done the first time. Sadly, this tends to take awhile, but I will inform you all whenever I get information.

I know that might seem anal rententive to include THE REAL BRUCE LEE and FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH on the list, but they do use footage that's not American in origin and until confirmation can be obtained about the movies used to provide the footage used in those movies, we can't be sure that they're 100% public domain.

Speaking of which, Diamond apparently got in trouble over their widescreen edition of THE REAL BRUCE LEE. From what I can tell, their first release of TRBL was just a fullframe transfer with black bars put over the image, but there were enough complaints to get them to yank this edition (It was part of a box set). Now, all Diamond FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH/THE REAL BRUCE LEE double feature DVDs only have FOF, TOD in widescreen(?) and TRBL in fullframe. For what it's worth, Diamond's FOF, TOD print is identical to Brentwood's, even down to a brief, purple video "hiccup" that can only be seen if you pause the film at the right time. However, they could just be using the same source.

Their contact information can be found on this (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=dmec.ob) Yahoo business site. However, their website is no longer active. I have seen new (to me) DVD collections of theirs, so they might still be around.

UPDATE: I've switched over to posting the full updates as individual posts, but noting the updates here. The first company to be profiled this way will be St. Clair Vision/S'more Entertainment.

Vina Distributor- Updated, profile located on page 1 on the thread.

Allumination Filmworks - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread. The update links Allumination to Ardustry, Sterling, UAV, and Gemstone.

PC Treasures/DVD Treasures - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread.

Westlake Entertainment - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread.

Phoenix Entertainment - Updated (continued from Westlake entry), profile on page 1 of the thread. Also contains ntoes detailing its connection to Ground Zero Entertainment.

Madacy - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread.

Mill Creek Entertainment/Treeline Films/Dollar Entertainment/Digital1Stop - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread.

Digital Value Entertainment/Hannover House - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread.

Mac Filmworks 1 - Updated, profile located on page 1 of the thread. Details the semi-newcomer to the DVD world, Mac Filmworks.

Mac Filmworks 2 - Update located on page 1. A continuation of the previous entry, highlighting its connections to Berliner Holdings (and TW Films), Western International (with possible ties to Trinity/905), and Saturn Productions (/Passion Productions/Miracle Pictures/a million other aliases).

Digital Gold/Leisure Entertainment/Unicorn (Part 1) - Update located on page 2. Details the link between Digital Gold, Leisure Entertainment, and Unicorn Video. Also shows the connections between Unicorn, the Treasure Box Collection, the Family Value Collection, and possibly Morningstar Entertainment.

Jalisco Films - Updated located on page 2. Profile details a possible connection to the "Media Trading Network."

Legacy Entertainment - Update located on page 2. Profile also notes their connection to Air Music and Media Group (The company behind Hollywood DVD Ltd.)

York Entertainment/York Home Video - Update located on page 2.

Platinum Disc Corporation/Echo Bridge Entertainment

BFS Entertainment/American Home Treasures

Sofa Entertainment

Goodtimes Home Video

VideoAsia/Fortune 5/Eastern Heroes (linked to Golden Media Group)

BCI Eclipse/Brentwood/Deimos Entertainment/Dollar DVD/Navarre Corporation (also linked to Golden Media Group)

Catcom/Raintree/KRB Music

Guillotine Films

Pan Media/Red Sun/Bonzai

Digiview

Delta/Laserlight

Trinity Home Entertainment

EVG Digital

First Look Entertainment

To be continued...

[dndcollect]

"even though US copyright laws state that all foreign works that were once considered PD now have their rights restored to their original owners"

The above sentance you wrote concerns me because this is not correct.

It is not "all" foreign works. If you are going to be reporting people and writing letters and doing a campaign the first thing you need to do is have your facts correct. There are many foriegn works that are in fact public domain.

You will get nowhere if you write a letter about a company selling an "illegal bootleg" when in fact it is public domain. There are many companies on your list that put out legit public domain films that are 100% legal. I think its clear you should educate yourself on this before putting out a caimpaign.

The worst thing to happen would be for you to make this mistake because then the companies will no longer take you seriously and will consider you a waste of their time.

You need to make sure you educate yourself on the subject.

Honestly I think if he was willing, it would be better to have Linn1 proof read any letters people decide to write.

Even if you dont want to take the time to learn about this stuff, at the very least before you send a letter look up the title of the movie in the US copyright database to make sure that you are correct. Also, there are reference books at some librarys that list every movie in the public domain. Use that also as a reference.

Do this the right way man. Dont make it worse.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

The above sentance you wrote concerns me because this is not correct.

You're absolutely correct; I forgot to write the part about that not applying to works that are public domain in their country of origin. Thanks for the reminder, I shall fix that.

You will get nowhere if you write a letter about a company selling an "illegal bootleg" when in fact it is public domain.

Well, that's not how I write letters. I contact the rightsholder, list the movie title(s) and companies that released it (them), ask if they're licensed, and wait for a reply. But since I didn't bring that up in my original post, I can't fault you for not knowing that (just as I can't fault you for not knowing that I'm double-checking with companies while I do this).

There are many foriegn works that are in fact public domain.

I'm assuming that you mean public domain in their country of origin. Do you happen to know the names of those movies (martial arts or otherwise)? That'd be a big help for the list if you posted them here; come on and share the wealth!

There are many companies on your list that put out legit public domain films that are 100% legal.

That's true, but the problem is that there are several movies that aren't public domain, but get wrongly listed as public domain movies anyway. And let's not forget that I noted in the original post that putting out a movie that's unlicensed by the rightsholder (and, I should add, not in the public domain) means that a company has put out a bootleg. This is also why I referred to companies on the list as being "shady" instead of flat-out saying "bootleg companies". When/if any companies are found to have the rights to their titles, this will be noted and they will get moved to another list.

And speaking of the list, it's a work in progress. See the names without any links or information near them? They're just placeholders; eventually, they'll also have information and links near them. I thought that was clear since every day or so, I update it with new information. Looks like I was wrong. And just to be on the safe side, I'll clearly state what I thought was obvious when I first started this: Please don't include any of this information on your letters until I finish the list. Thank you.

I think its clear you should educate yourself on this before putting out a caimpaign.

Well, that is kinda why I made it open to the public and have asked for help. Just think of it as a Wikipedia article of sorts.

Honestly I think if he was willing, it would be better to have Linn1 proof read any letters people decide to write.

Or someone could put together a form letter and post it in the forums. That way everyone could proof read it, correct it, and have it ready to use without giving someone with the job of proofreading tons of letters.

Even if you dont want to take the time to learn about this stuff,

Oh believe me, that's not the case. Public domain related stuff is a hobby of mine.

at the very least before you send a letter look up the title of the movie in the US copyright database to make sure that you are correct.

I'm familiar with the site. I'm also familiar with the fact that it's somewhat incomplete (although that's mostly with the more recent registartion submissions) and the search function is buggy. For the best results, you either have to do a "combination search" or look up a movie by whoever registered it (sometimes the combination search misses entries like that).

Also, there are reference books at some librarys that list every movie in the public domain. Use that also as a reference.

I'll check, but a lot of those are out-of-date and don't reflect changes in US copyright laws (There's a book called "Superlist" or soemthing to that effect that's especially guilty of that). Hell, I'd be willing to bet that some of them still list IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE as a public domain movie.

[dndcollect]

"I contact the rightsholder, list the movie title(s) and companies that released it (them), ask if they're licensed, and wait for a reply." <------This is good, im glad you are doing this.

"I'm assuming that you mean public domain in their country of origin. Do you happen to know the names of those movies (martial arts or otherwise)? That'd be a big help for the list if you posted them here; come on and share the wealth!"

I made my comment because you said "all foreign works" are no longer public domain and I am going to assume you are referring to GATT. While its true that GATT restored the rights to many foriegn works including Shaw Brothers movies, there are still many foreign works that are still public domain. Also, when I say foreign works, I dont just mean kung fu movies. While you may get somewhere with a company that took the time to use GATT to restore their works, you will have no chance to do anything about a work that is in its owns country PD due to the fact that I would be stunned if anyone in the USA cared about it. You only have a chance to do something about works that are covered by US copyright. Enforcing foreign copyright is virtually impossible.


"That's true, but the problem is that there are several movies that aren't public domain, but get wrongly listed as public domain movies anyway. And let's not forget that I noted in the original post that putting out a movie that's unlicensed by the rightsholder (and, I should add, not in the public domain) means that a company has put out a bootleg. This is also why I referred to companies on the list as being "shady" instead of flat-out saying "bootleg companies"

Thats fine however there are some companies on your list that have never put out a bootleg title by your definition. I dont agree that those companies should be refered to as shady. Yes these companies put out cheap public domain movies and copyright their cover art, and you may not like that, but its 100% legal. I dont think its fair to refer to them as shady if they have done nothing illegal.


All and all however I feel better about this since your post seems to indicate you are open to suggestions and seem careful with how you are going to approach these companies.

And again, I am not an expert, but I think you should be or at least have an expert involved.

You mention "A Wonderful Life" now, you know about that more than me, however the last I read the self proclaimed owner of the rights of this film had a hard time if he even won at all in court.

Do you have any further info on this? (I could be thinking of something else, it may not even be this film.)

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

I made my comment because you said "all foreign works" are no longer public domain and I am going to assume you are referring to GATT.

Well, I was refering to the Copyright Restoration Act (17 U.S.C. §
104A), but I suppose it's possible that it's part of the GATT agreement. I'd have to double check, though. If you have some free time, you might want to read this court case (http://tinyurl.com/oxtuo) in which it was used (although this involved stills rather than films). But, yeah, the "all" part was an error on my part.

While its true that GATT restored the rights to many foriegn works including Shaw Brothers movies, there are still many foreign works that are still public domain. Also, when I say foreign works, I dont just mean kung fu movies.

It doesn't matter to me if they're not martial arts movies; I love getting as much information as I can about stuff like this. Oh, and you forgot to list those public domain foreign films you were talking about. Come on, man, don't make me beg!

And information on films that are copyrighted is welcome, too. I was out of the Kung Fu Fandom loop for a couple years, so I'm a bit behind when it comes to what studio owns what movie.

While you may get somewhere with a company that took the time to use GATT to restore their works, you will have no chance to do anything about a work that is in its owns country PD due to the fact that I would be stunned if anyone in the USA cared about it. You only have a chance to do something about works that are covered by US copyright. Enforcing foreign copyright is virtually impossible.

Right, a movie that's public domain in its own country is public domain in the USA (unless there's some legal quirk I don't know about). Do you (or anyone else reading this) know of any martial arts that fit that particular category?

I should also note that the Berne Convention (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_an d_Artistic_Works) requires that any country that signs the agreement has to protect the copyright on copyrighted works made by other countries who signed the agreement.

Thats fine however there are some companies on your list that have never put out a bootleg title by your definition.

Really? Which companies would those be? This is a list of companies I'd like clarified, so feel free to share any information on companies that shouldn't be on the list.

All and all however I feel better about this since your post seems to indicate you are open to suggestions and seem careful with how you are going to approach these companies.

Thank you. Yes, I'm always open to suggestions; I want this done properly and need all the information and" nudges in the right direction" that I can get.

You mention "A Wonderful Life" now, you know about that more than me, however the last I read the self proclaimed owner of the rights of this film had a hard time if he even won at all in court.

Do you have any further info on this? (I could be thinking of something else, it may not even be this film.)

Yeah, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is definitely copyrighted to the Republic Pictures Corporation, due to the fact that they still had the copyright on parts of the soundtrack and the rights to the short story on which the film was based. You can find a nice summary of what happened here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life). There was a lawsuit (Jimmy Hawkins v. Republic Entertainment) in 1998 where someone tried to prove that the film was still in the public domain based on the claim that the story the movie was based on wasn't published at the time of the film's release. (http://www.entlawdigest.com/search.cfm?IssueID=46) I can't read the verdict since the site requires paid membership, but since Republic is still the only company authorizing DVD releases, I'm going to guess that they won. Also, I've been told that, under the old rules, as long as something wasn't released to the public, it wasn't up for being declared public domain or not.

Interestingly enough, I learned from a former Catcom employee (we post in the same Yahoo group) that they tried to do a DVD of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE under the impression that it was still in the public domain, but were stopped by their lawyers. Then again, Catcom's lawyers also greenlit their DVD release of THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN (which is copyrighted and listed in the copyright.gov database).

Maybe you're thinking of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD? I once heard something about Elite Entertainment finding some information that restored the copyright while they were preparing a laserdisc release, but I haven't heard any indication of any lawsuits being brought against the companies that put out copies of that movie. Back in 2005, I read an article on NOTLD in some horror magazine where they interviewed people involved with that movie. The director, George Romero, said that it was in the public domain and that he's okay with it since some companies approach him for "official" releases. However, an attorney for the company that made the movie, Image Ten, said that the movie was still copyrighted.

[Lei Kung]

I'm thankful for all the bootlegging that's gone on. Raise your hand if you would not be into kung fu movies today had there not been bootlegs available when you were first introduced. This is how the genre has survived. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'll bet the popularity of kung fu movies in America is largely due to cheap bootlegs being readily available and having been so for much of the past. Shaw Brothers would never have gotten all my money from buying the Celestials had I not first discovered them through GZ. Can anyone else here say the same?

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

I'm thankful for all the bootlegging that's gone on. Raise your hand if you would not be into kung fu movies today had there not been bootlegs available when you were first introduced. This is how the genre has survived. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'll bet the popularity of kung fu movies in America is largely due to cheap bootlegs being readily available and having been so for much of the past. Shaw Brothers would never have gotten all my money from buying the Celestials had I not first discovered them through GZ. Can anyone else here say the same?

If what you're saying is correct, then I'm the odd man out here. I got into martial arts movies due to official Jackie Chan releases in the 90's, with my interest in older movies being influenced by reading online reviews of old Ocean Shores tapes and people discussing "Black Belt Theater" showings on TV in their youth. Oddly enough, it was from those same discussions that I first learned of Xenon, Ground Zero, and George Tan.

I should point out that this thread isn't about discussing whether bootlegging is good or bad for MA fandom, since that's been beaten to death in other threads. This thread is intended for those who don't like bootlegs getting sold in retailers (and who believe this hurts MA fandom) and who want to prove the illegal nature of certain releases in aid in any letters one writes to retailers on the issue (But one could write letters to retailers without doing that, too). I don't have any illusions of this thread leading to the end of martial arts bootlegs; I'm just trying to do something about it (and learn about companies I have questions about in the process).

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

NOTE: This originally appeared over at another version of this thread located at Latarnia (http://p210.ezboard.com/fthelatarniaforumsfrm10.showMessageRange?topicID=4 38.topic). I've done some editing on this version for simplicity's sake, but feel free to check out the other version

This distributor who started out with cheap DVDs packaged in slimline cases, but soon moved on to multipacks. Although thought to be Canadian by many, their offices are located in America (but they do have a branch in Canada), as evidenced by their contact information (as seen at www.stclairent.com/contact.php):

St. Clair Entertainment Group, Inc.
21600 Oxnard Street, Suite 2070
Woodland Hills, CA
91367
Tel: 818.592.6900
Fax: 818.592.6901

And since we're visiting their website, let's look at the DVD section (www.stclairent.com/dvd.php):

-Note that they list S'More Entertainment as one of their labels. S'More released FEMALE SPACE INVADERS, a retitled print of STAR CRASH.
Said film print is supposedly fullframe and has the visual quality of a decent VHS tape. You can see some screenshots (and a review) here (http://www.eccentric-cinema.com/cult_movies2006/female_space_invaders.htm).

Oh, and Troma sued S'More in 2005 over the movie HAUNTING FEAR (http://www.entlawdigest.com/search.cfm?sort=AA&page=20&areaID=3). As I've said before, getting sued doesn't necessarily prove that you did anything wrong. However, it would be interesting to see who won. A quick search at Amazon has a reference to a release by (with no cover art available) St. Clair Vision in 2005 (http://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Fear-Brinke-Stevens/dp/B000ARXFQY/sr=1-2/qid=1169271798/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd), but no Troma DVD. But then again, Troma could have the rights and not have released it on DVD yet. They did do a VHS release, though. (http://www.troma.com/movies/hauntingfear) Hopefully, we can find some more information on this.

-Getting back to the St. Clair name (and martial arts), let's look at some of their releases:

"Martial Arts Masters" collection (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0006A9IRA/ref=s9_asin_title_2/105-6409139-8944440):

SHOGUN'S NINJA
NINJA WARS
THE STREET FIGHTER
FISTS OF FURY
SISTER STREET FIGHTER
THE REAL BRUCE LEE
BRUCE LEE: THE MAN, THE MYTH
RAGE OF THE MASTER
RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER

That Amazon.com link has some reviews noting the bad quality for most of the movies on the collection. As with many cheap DVD releases of martial arts, I am suspicious but haven't gotten full proof of their non-PD status yet. Especially in the case of the STREET FIGHTER series. (http://p081.ezboard.com/fkungfufandomfrm25.showMessage?topicID=925.topic)

"Martial Arts collection" (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0006A9IRA/ref=s9_asin_title_2/105-6409139-8944440)

THE CHINESE CONNECTION (Look it up in copyright.gov...)
KUNG FU: THE PUNCH OF DEATH
DRAGON PRINCESS
SAMURAI REINCARNATION
SNAKE CRANE SECRET
DUEL OF THE IRON FISTS
LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI
MILITANT EAGLE (aka "MILLITANT EAGLE")
DRAGON LEE VS. THE FIVE BROTHERS

All suspicious, but I won't have proof until I track down and contact the original rightsholders of those titles to see if they're still under copyright and if they licensed those titles to St. Clair Vision. I need to contact Fox/Fortune Star about those Bruce Lee movies' status in their country of origin, but they're looking pretty non-PD to me. By the way, can someone please tell me how reliable hkmdb.com is?

Just so you know, St. Clair Vision/S'More has their DVDs distributed by Pro-Active Entertainment, a rather questionable distribution company that carried DVD-Rs from a company called "Cheezy Flicks". I can plug in that information here if anyone wants me to, but I suggest reading it over at Latarnia since it's not really martial arts related.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Vina Distributor releases cheap (usually $1.99) DVDs of standard "PD" fare (episodes of the Red Skelton Show, Popeye cartoons, etc., although I don't know if they're truly in the public domain or not), films of qquestionable legality, and Spanish language movies whose legality I'm not sure of. Sadly, their website, www.vinadistributor.com , only displays a message about the site currently being under construction and only gives the following contact information:

PHONE: 714-210-8550
TOLL FREE: 888-355-3456

However, this (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:j5wvbdBs8IwJ:www.vinadistributor.co m/+vinadistributor.com&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) cached version of the front page reveals some of the titles that they distribute.

According to this archived version (http://web.archive.org/web/20040326075520/http://vinadistributor.com) of their website, their full contact information is:

Vina Distributor
10891 Capital Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92843

Tel: (888) 355-3456
Fax: (714) 210-8503

Note the titles that are used in their Flash intro screen:

BRUCE LEE THE INVINCIBLE
ANGEL FORCE
NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN
SORCERESS' WRATH

Sony had (has?) the rights to NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN, although they released it in an edited version called LEGEND OF THE RED DRAGON. There are two movies called ANGEL FORCE on the IMDB, (and neither profile gives any company information) and I could only find a reference to SORCERESS'S WRATH (aka SORCERESS WRATH, WHITE HAIR DEVIL LADY, and WHITE HAIRED DEVIL LADY) being made by a company called "Great Wall". Any help on this would be appreciated.

I also know that Vina released a presumably unlicensed DVD of Dario Argento's CAT O' NINE TAILS (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:N5XskyUT1gMJ:www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html%3Fdir%3DDario%2BArgento+%22vina+distribu tor%22cat+o+nine&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) (and look, Diamond and Platinum made DVDs of it as well). I know that Anchor Bay (Bill Lustig?) held the rights for awhile, but I don't know if they still do. I've heard the video quality on the release is poor (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:tFRhIi7D9bkJ:warrenzone.blogspot.co m/2006_02_01_warrenzone_archive.html+%22vina+distrib utor%22cat+o+nine&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3), though (They also did a DEATH RACE 2000 DVD).

Speaking of DEATH RACE 2000 (currently distributed by a branch of Disney, if I remember correctly), here's what I found on copyright.gov:

1. Registration Number:* * * * * * * * RE-882-610
Title:* * * * * * * * Death race 2000. By aSanta Fe Productions.
Note:* * * * * * * * Motion picture.
Claimant:* * * * * * * * acPacific Trust (PWH)
Effective Registration Date:* * * * * * * * 15Jan03
Original Registration Date:* * * * * * * * 30Apr75;
Original Registration Number:* * * * * * * * LP47184.
Original Class:* * * * * * * * L
Miscellaneous:* * * * * * * * C.O. corres.

3. Registration Number:* * * * * * * * PAu-2-312-961
Title:* * * * * * * * Death race 2000.
Description:* * * * * * * * 1 v.
Note:* * * * * * * * Script.
Claimant:* * * * * * * * acConcorde-New Horizons Corporations
Created:* * * * * * * * 1975
Registered:* * * * * * * * 31Jul98
Title on © Application:* * * * * * * * The racer.
Special Codes:* * * * * * * * 3/D

I don't know if these means the movie is or isn't in the public domain, but it's still interesting.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Westlake originally did cheap DVDs and multipacks, but did branch out into dollar DVDs a year or so ago. When I went to their website to select some titles to profile for this update, I was stunned to see that they changed around their website's layout and catalog!

Thankfully, plugging "www.westlakeent.com" into archive.org can bring up some of their old stuff (http://web.archive.org/web/20050307023333/www.westlakeent.com/action.htm):

FIST TO FIST - A 42 minute Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan clipshow made from (according to the Bruceploitation website (http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/reviews/fisttofist.htm)) FISTS OF FURY, a Bruce Lee interview, THE YOUNG MASTER, THE MASTER WITH CRACKED FINGERS (aka SNAKE FIST FIGHTER and 10 FINGERS OF DEATH), DRUNKEN MASTER, and TWIN DRAGONS.

I'm pretty sure that Fox/Fortune Star has the rights FISTS OF FURY and THE YOUNG MASTER. TWIN DRAGONS was made in 1992, so I rather doubt that's in the public domain in its country of origin. Can anyone else chime in on this?

BLOODFIGHT (Not sure if this is PD in its country of origin)

BREATHING FIRE (Made in the early 90's; I'm not sure how this got considered PD)

And we have some more movies that might not be public domain in their country of origin:

HERCULES

SLAVE OF THE CANNIBAL GOD

MR. SCARFACE

The Mexican SANTA CLAUS

Others:

MOON OF THE WOLF (As noted earlier in this thread, I found that the original novel still seems to be under copyright. I think I'll renew my efforts to contact the author after I finish this entry)

CASTLE OF BLOOD (Paging Synapse...)

THE MIND SNATCHERS (I don't know who owns this, but I do know that Mill Creek Entertainment had to cease production of their DVD of this during their "Treeline days")

Let's move on to the stuff on the revised www.westlakeent.com:

Contact Information:

Westlake Entertainment Inc.
9001 Fullbright Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Ph: 866-733-5824
Fx: 818-716-5579
Toll Free: 866-733-5824

www.westlakeent.com/default.asp?t=contact_us

www.myspace.com/westlakeent

In the martial arts section, we find:

AVENGING BOXER
EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER (also listed on Trinity's website)
FISTS OF DRAGONS
THE DRAGON DIES HARD
THE CHIVALRY, THE GUNMAN, AND THE KILLER
IMPRUDENT IRON PHEONIX

Which appear to be part of a "black lotus collection." If one looks up those titles on Amazon.com, they'll find that the DVD is credited to "Phoenix Entertainment Group." (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Dies-Hard/dp/B000BT96UK/sr=1-1/qid=1169422795/ref=sr_1_1/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

According to this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:OR_2DFCBGpkJ:www.animeondvd.com/news/pr.php%3Fpr_view%3D916+%2B%22phoenix+entertainment +group%22+urban&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4), Westlake is the "...distributor for the following labels: Rigel Entertainment (theatrical features), Illumitoon Entertainment (Anime), Phoenix Entertainment Group(Urban and Latino), Red Bull USA (Extreme Sports) and Cineville Films (theatrical features)."

There's more information about the connection between the two, but it's so big and so important that I have to devote another post to it.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

As noted before, PEG is distributed by Westlake Entertianment, but they are also distributed (along with Alpha, Brentwood, Guillotine, Tango, St. Clair Vision, and other companies) by Bayside Entertainment Distribution (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:_vo-OPGpKI0J:www.baysidedist.com/download/nrbooks/dvd/dvdbook_mar06.pdf+%22Phoenix+Entertainment+Group%2 2&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=13&ie=UTF-8)

Bayside Entertainment Distribution
885 Riverside Parkway
West Sacramento, CA 95605
(800)525-5709

www.baysidedist.com (which seems to be down)

Searching for "Pheonix Entertainment Group " yielded this article (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6395771.html) where the company is described as a "fledging independent" company and notes their handling of martial arts titles (along with PEG's vice president of "TV, film and DVD development"). There's also an intriguing claim that they licensed some Japanese horror titles from "World Media, Inc." It's quite possible this is correct, but I have been unable to find the company at the moment (but I only did a quick search).

Is it possible that a newly formed independent company bought the license to some martial arts titles? Yes, but I kinda doubt that these were obtained from the original rights holders. I know from experience that martial arts films being carried by self-described "urban" distributors is never, EVER a good sign when it comes to martial arts releases.

You know, his names sounds awfully familiar; I think I'll plug it into Google...

and it turns out that he's the former president of Ground Zero Entertainment (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA612397.html). I know something was wrong with this company.

www.myspace.com/phoenixentgroup confirms that the company is focused on "urban" and "latino" releases, so it looks to be the same company. Said myspace links to phoenixentgroup.com (which was also given as the company's website in that Bayside listing), which is just a placeholder site at the moment.

Sadly, the only contact information is the following:

www.phoenixentgroup.com
www.myspace.com/phoenixentgroup

Los Angeles, California
United States

And if the "Phoenix Entertainment Group" listed here (http://www.hiphoppress.com/2006/week18/index.html) is the same company, then Li'L Kim had teamed up with the spawn of the same company that she sued (See original Ground Zero Entertainment entry)!

I've also found that PEG has teamed with Allumination Filmworks (aka Sterling) to distribute the same martial arts titles that Westlake is distributing.

You can learn more at:

www.alluminationfilmworks.com/ news_article.cfm?articleID=166

But that's another story for another time...

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

As noted in the last update, Allumination Filmworks, like Westlake Entertainment, has a distribution deal with the shady Phoenix Entertainment Group. They even mention this on their website at:

www.alluminationfilmworks.com/news_article.cfm?articleID=166

Contact information:

Corporate Headquarters:* * * *

Allumination FilmWorks LLC
21250 Califa Street, Suite 102
Woodland Hills, CA 91367* * * *
(818) 712-9000 (tel)
(818) 712-9074 (fax)

Operations/Warehouse:* * * *

Allumination FilmWorks LLC
21250 Califa Street, Suite 111
Woodland Hills, CA 91367* * * *
(818) 712-9000 ext. 229 (tel)
(818) 712-9070 (fax)

www.alluminationfilmworks.com/contact.cfm

Oddly enough, Allumination was formerly known as Ardustry Home Entertainment (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6354106.html). Also, Allumination Filmworks was acquired by a British company called ContentFilm PLC (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6354106.html) in 2006. They still retain their name and coninue their normal operations, though. More on the subject can be found at:

www.contentfilm.com/index.php/about/allumination_filmworks.html

Contact information:

London office:

ContentFilm plc
19 Heddon Street
London, W1B 4BG
United Kingdom

Tel No.: +44 20 7851 6500
Fax No: +44 20 7851 6506

Los Angeles Office:

ContentFilm plc
1337 Third Street Promenade
Suite 302
Santa Monica, CA 90401
United States of America

Tel No.: +1 310 576 1059
Fax No.: +1 310 576 1859

www.contentfilm.com/index.php/about.html

Also: ContentFilm operates two UK distribution labels; Winchester Film Distribution Ltd and Feature Film Company Ltd. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:7RpUQJci0yQJ:www.aimquoted.com/companyinfo/ContentFilm%2520plc.pdf+Content+Film+PLC&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10)

But we're getting off topic; let's have a look at some of the more questionable titles of Allumination:

KUNG FU PUNCH OF DEATH (http://www.amazon.com/Kung-Fu-Punch-Fei-Meng/dp/B00005R26F/sr=1-714/qid=1169523245/ref=sr_1_714/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

BREATHING FIRE (http://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Fire-Brandon-Wilde/dp/B00005R26M/sr=1-494/qid=1169523049/ref=sr_1_494/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) (As noted earlier, I'm not sure if this is truly in the public domain due to it being made in 1991 and how it could've been effected by various copyright extention laws).

FISTS OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Fists-Bruce-Lee-Li/dp/B00005QW6L/sr=1-673/qid=1169523215/ref=sr_1_673/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE STREET FIGHTER (http://www.amazon.com/Street-Fighter-Shigehiro-Ozawa/dp/B00005R26D/sr=1-636/qid=1169523161/ref=sr_1_636/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Image-Bruce-Lee-Kuen-Yeung/dp/B00005R26E/sr=1-114/qid=1169522470/ref=sr_1_114/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE REAL BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Real-Bruce-Lee/dp/B00005QW68/sr=1-574/qid=1169523109/ref=sr_1_574/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - A clipshow of sorts, but I'm not sure that fair use would cover this (assuming that all the foreign-made footage is still under copyright) since it's for profit and contains sections that try to retell the story of a movie in a shortened length of time. I can't say that this is really an educational work (they might have a case with some of the material at the beginning, but I'm no lawyer), but the shortened Dragon Lee movie would probably keep it from being considered an educational work.

And then there's the issue of who owns what clips (I suspect that multiple companies would own the rights to these if they are still under copyright in their country of origin). For more information on the subject, I recommend going here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:dJPR8uncUAwJ:www.sabucat.com/pdf/fairuse2.pdf+%22Richard+Feiner+%26+Co%22+laurel&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5).

RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER (http://www.amazon.com/Return-Street-Fighter-Shigehiro-Ozawa/dp/B00005R26C/sr=1-654/qid=1169523186/ref=sr_1_654/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Most of these movies aren't (completely) American-made (with the exception of BREATHING FIRE) and I can't say that I can see their rights owners licensing them out to all these cheap DVD companies. I've noticed that when a cheap DVD company actually licenses a movie or TV show (Yes, it does happen), you only see it on one label (Unless some else illegally uses the same movie/tv show). If these aren't licensed and they are copyrighted in their country of origin, then the Berne Act (and Copyright Restoration Act) makes those movies non-PD and thus, illegal.

COLD HARVEST's (http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Harvest/dp/B0009PW4B4/sr=1-1/qid=1169572903/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) listing led me to deduce a connection between Allumination and Sterling, since I knew that Sterling was selling copies of COLD HARVEST at one point.

This website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:aIrgEzneOOEJ:www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html%3Fdir%3DDuane%2BClark+sterling+alluminat ion&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2&ie=UTF-8) also notes that Sterling titles are distributed by Allumination Filmworks.

An October 2006 article (which I won't link to directly since Hannover House will be noted in another update) discusses a deal between Hannover House and Allumination that "...will turn over to Allumination most of the field sales and order processing functions for Hannover House titles, effective immediately." It also notes that Allumination had acquired "...certain assets of United American Video and Sterling Home Entertainment."

www.hannoverhouse.com/Press/PressDec2006.html

[/url] reveals that Sterling is a label run by UAV-United American Video. And this link (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Y4nxrdpKtBAJ:www.uavco.com/corporate/news/texavery.html+%22sterling+entertainment%22) reveals that the man listed as the senior vice-president of UAV is or was the VP of content and business development for Sterling.

Contact (found using this (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:HCqwQ4VMEwwJ:www.kftv.com/company-22761.html+%22united+american+video%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5) site):

United American Video Corporation
2200 Carolina Place
Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708
USA

Tel: * * * * 803 548 7300
Fax: * * * * 803 548 3335

[url]www.uavco.com (dead)

2006 website archive (http://web.archive.org/web/20060506115722/www.uavco.com/products/video.html)

Protocall Technologies Incorporated (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:0A7tA1pFniUJ:www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/3425+%22united+american+video%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=11) licensed titles from UAV in October 2006 for "DVD on-demand systems"

Contact information:

TitleMatch Entertainment Group Incorporated
47 Mall Drive
Commack, NY 11725

Telephone and Fax:
631-543-3655
Toll-free 866-575-6060
Fax: 631-543-6944

www.protocall.com/contact-us.html

It should be noted that this article (http://www.heraldonline.com/106/story/4047.html) says that UAV was in the process of being evicted from their Fort Mill location in 2006 due to not paying rent for three months. It also mentions the original owner having sold the company to Morgenthaler Partners (www.morgenthaler.com/contacts.asp) at one point. I don't know if they still own UAV, though. It sounds like they were having major financial troubles and I'm pretty sure that the company no longer exists (http://www.videostoremag.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=9319).

Amazon has separate listings for some UAV titles, though. One such example is FISTS OF FURY (http://www.amazon.com/Fists-Fury-Jiaxiang-Wu/dp/B000004C0Z/sr=1-3/qid=1169565463/ref=sr_1_3/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) (Which I believe that Fox/Fortune Star has the rights to. However, I've heard of Fortune Star titles getting licensed by a company called Joy Sales Films and Video Distributors (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:YOz5u0IsoD0J:www.kaijushakedown.com/2006/03/fortune_star_dv.html+fortune+star&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5), so I don't know if that effects anything).

FANTASY MISSION FORCE (http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Mission-Force-Yin-Ping-Chu/dp/B00000IBTW/sr=1-2/qid=1169565463/ref=sr_1_2/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

Notice that this movie (http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/dvd/reviews/fistsofbldvd.htm) is listed as being by Allumination on Amazon.

Also worthy of note is THE LITTLE MERMAID (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Mermaid-Christian-Andersens-Corporation/dp/B00005QW6Q/sr=1-737/qid=1169523267/ref=sr_1_737/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Despite being listed as an "Allumination" DVD, "UAV" is noted in the title of the listing. And from the screenshots, we can tell it's a VHS-quality transfer of an anime version of the story. Whether or not UAV has the rights for this or if the movie is copyrighted in its country of origin are unknown (At least until the movie's maker can be identified).

To make matters even more complicated, there's the matter of Gemstone Entertainment.

This website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:vcCq6norcwMJ:www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html%3Fcat%3D1%26id%3Dwarhol%2Bbaby+gemstone+ UAV+dvd+aficionado&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) lists UAV as Gemstone's distributor. This seems to be supported by these (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:W5xqw4C6pl8J:www.naschy.com/retornowalpurgis.html+%22united+american+video%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=17) links (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:6oBBwCjda1wJ:www.library.georgetown .edu/newmaterials/archive/july2005/video.htm+%22gemstone+entertainment%22+%22united+a merican%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4)

Gemstone released Italian stuff at one point (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:RPH3Zp_3vBUJ:home.earthlink.net/~scinema/sword.htm+%22gemstone+entertainment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8), but were those movies licensed and/or are they PD in Italy?

I also know that they released:

RAGE OF THE MASTER (RAGE OF THE MASTERS on the box)
FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH as part of a "Ninja collection" (Neither movie has ninjas in it).

DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (http://www.amazon.com/Dracula-Vs-Frankenstein-Craig-Hill/dp/B000BP8UFG) (aka ASSIGNMENT TERROR) - This is a terrible quality, edited version that clocks in at 77 minutes

THE RITES OF DRACULA - An edited, fullframe version of THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA.

THE SWAP - This review (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:wQX1plel6pkJ:www.amazon.com/The-Swap/dp/B000H520RY+%22gemstone+entertainment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6) notes its terrible quality and DVD design.

SISTER STREETFIGHTER - According to this (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/f55358506f89121d/c1a895d01e2b059a?lnk=st&q=%22gemstone+entertainment%22&rnum=1&hl=en#c1a895d01e2b059a), they also did other "Chiba titles".

CHAMPIONS OF DEATH (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/cf8eb3178001b407/0a5a76bdf2351f7b?lnk=st&q=%22gemstone+entertainment%22&rnum=3&hl=en#0a5a76bdf2351f7b) - Real title: CHAMPION OF DEATH

BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:HT1rXrVrdDoJ:www.boxoffice.com/boxoffice_scr/boxoffice_search.asp%3Fkeyword%3DSteve%2520James%2 6section%3Dall+gemstone+UAV&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) was released by Gemstone through UAV.

STUNT WOMAN (http://www.amazon.com/GEMSTONE-DVD-STUNT-WOMAN-RAQUEL/dp/B000B65ZR6) This DVD says "Gemstone" in its title and I've seen references to Gemstone releasing it via quick Google searches, but it says "Sterling" on Amazon listing.

I should note that the above are listed solely for the purpose of listing Gemstone releases. I don't know the copyright status of any of those movies. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I also found a comment that said "...the film is (was?) available on video through a company called GEMSTONE ENTERTAINMENT released by a company in Charlotte, NC called "United American Video". (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:wyM70koAVP0J:debrief.commanderbond. net/lofiversion/index.php/t21881.html+%22gemstone+entertainment%22+united+am erican+video&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=59) However, the location he gives seems to be incorrect (http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&lr=&q=united-american-video&near=Charlotte,+NC&radius=0.0&latlng=35226944,-80843333,4541783636019046140&sa=X&oi=local&ct=authority), but it might've been located there in the past, though.

And if we look at the 1998 archives of UAV's website, we see that UAV has released several questionable "PD" horror (http://web.archive.org/web/19990922010147/www.uavco.com/video/horror.htm) and martial arts (http://web.archive.org/web/19991008210356/www.uavco.com/video/martial.htm) movies on VHS.

Notice that CHAMPIONS OF DEATH is one of the martial arts VHS titles. Did they just carry the same title, did UAV "license" it to Gemstone, or are they part of the same company?

UAV's DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (http://www.amazon.com/Dracula-vs-Frankenstein-Forrest-Ackerman/dp/B00000F0HI/sr=1-1/qid=1169570997/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=video) VHS has same cover art as the Gemstone DVD. Is this merely UAV distributing a Gemstone vhs release, or is proof of a direct connection between the companies?

Could this be the same Gemstone Entertainment as the one we're talking about? (http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000358760-page.html) If so, this could end the UAV=Gemstone speculation.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

To my knowledge, PC Treasures started out as a company that sold (and still does sell) cheap software titles in cardboard boxes (said boxes were about the size of an amaray DVD case, with the disc enclosed in a standar paper CD holder). They branched out into dollar DVDs using the same approach. Later, they experimented with hot-gluing the DVD (glue on the label side) inside the box and cardboard slipcovers (about the size of the ones used for promotional CDs). They've recently switched over to slimline cases.

The president of the company has been quoted in at least one newspaper article on dollar DVDs (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/03/movies/03lidz.html?ex=1278043200&en=277d25b3fc0fb730&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss) (In this one, he makes a hilariously ironic comment about "quick buck artists" being in the cheap DVD industry).

PC Treasures puts two movies on a single DVD, along with a cartoon. Since they use single layer DVDs, there's artifacts a-plenty. Their releases reportedly looked like they used old LP mode tapes as the masters (this was especially true for the cartoons). Later, they released some movies that some reviewers say look like someone videotaping a DVD. I'm not exactly sure which titles look that way, but I'd guess that their "beautiful" print of BEAST OF HAUNTED CAVE (with its "added tv footage") could be a swipe from Synapse's DVD.

At PopMusicPopculture (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/popmusicpopculture/), some theorized that some of their releases were sourced from DVDs by Alpha video, due to the similar-looking prints and the fact that they released the same titles as Alpha shortly after Alpha released them (SWEENEY TODD, COUNTRY GENTLEMEN, and IT'S A JOKE SON, and RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE to name a few). It could just be a coincidence, though.

It was also noted that some of the horror movie double features had "drive-in" menus similar to some earlier Madacy releases. Not having seen either of those releases, I can't say if this is true or if PC Treasures stole them (There is always the possiblity that they licensed the menus from Madacy or whoever made the menus for Madacy). There it was also noted that their Superman cartoons had added sound effects. Did PC Treasures (or whoever they licensed them from) add them in or are they stolen from the Goodtimes and/or Fox/Winstar DVDs that added in new sound effects?

If I remember the PMPC posts correctly, these are the "Drive-In" movies:

NIGHTMARE CASTLE/THE BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE
BLOODLUST/SWEENEY TODD
BLUEBEARD/HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (has Superman toon)
DEAD MEN WALK/ MONSTER MAKER
ATOM AGE VAMPIRE/REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES
THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE/BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS(has Superman cartoon)

I also believe that these titles also contained an advertisement for CDs by PCT (PC Treasures) Music.

Some other PC Treasures releases include:

DESTROY ALL PLANETS/MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET (http://www.amazon.com/Destroy-Planets-Monster-Prehistoric-REMASTERED/dp/B000M9V1GG/sr=1-2/qid=1169657603/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

I know that they did a DVD containing an old BEVERLEY HILLBILLIES episode which used the original theme song. Unless PCT paid for the music rights, they're using the music illegally because the song is copyrighted.

THE REAL BRUCE LEE/IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Real-Bruce-Lee-Image-Buce/dp/B000MB5DFY) - I've heard that it looks similar to the Mill Creek/Treeline version of "IMAGE."

STAR ODYSSEY (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qzcELew6frWBZspks_7SsnUuv9VNTUA-?cq=1&p=147) - (includes a Superman cartoon, a Three Stooges cartoon, a Felix the Cat cartoon, and an episode of "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger").

Contact information:

PC Treasures, Inc. Corporate Headquarters
2765 Metamora Rd.
Oxford, MI 48371
PH: 248-969-7800
FAX: 248-969-7801

www.pctreasures.com/info/contact.htm
www.digitaltreasures.com (Shows box art and some of their releases)

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

One of the oldest and most infamously crappy cheap DVD companies, no doubt kept alive by unwary public libraries and people who buy their DVDs thinking they're getting a classic movie like METROPOLIS for a steal, only to discover that the movie is an ugly, scratch-filled mess. In fact, it's been theorized that Madacy is actually reusing its old EP mode VHS tapes as masters for its DVDs.

Madacy's favorite technique is to repackage old DVDs into multipacks in order to fool consumers into think that it's a new release. One such example is when they split the four PD Three Stooges shorts (previously released by Madacy on 1 DVD) onto two separate DVDs, put "special edition" on the package, and charged about $13 for it! They also like to repackage DVDs in metal cases (often with something like a sound chip or free headband included) in order to charge more for their DVDs. Another Madacy tactic is to repackage a DVD with two somewhat-related CDs (Madacy also has a music division specializing in rerecordings of famous songs).

Some of Madacy's more questionable titles include:

FANTASY MISSION FORCE
MASTER WITH CRACKED FINGERS
THE YOUNG TIGER
FIRE DRAGON
EAGLE SHADOW FIST
THE CHINESE CONNECTION
FISTS OF FURY
RUMBLE IN HONG KONG (http://www.amazon.com/Rumble-Cracked-Fingers-Fantasy-Mission/dp/B00004T3CU/sr=1-279/qid=1169760072/ref=sr_1_279/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

On a related martial arts note, Madacy released NINJA DEATH I-III (http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Death-3pc/dp/B00004STES/sr=1-5/qid=1169760395/ref=sr_1_5/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=video) (reedited from the VENOM OF THE NINJA series) in its VHS days. I'd guess Madacy "licensed" the NINJA DEATH movies from Desert Island Films, judging from its appearing in the library of films on Desert Island Films' website, along with a note that Madacy has gotten titles from them in the past on www.desertislandfilms.com/about.html . Also notice that DIF has supplied materials to a bunch of companies that should know better, Alpha Video, Platinum, and Legacy.

NIGHTMARE CASTLE

HORROR HOTEL

WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS' DORMITORY - (aka LYCANTHRPOUS) This version is noteable for using the copyrighted "The Ghoul in School" song in it. For mor einformation, scroll down to the bottom of this page. (http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1048wolf.html)

WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN - If I remember correctly, this was discontinued after angry rumblings from its rightsholder. No matter how many times they go after companies that release it, new cheap DVD companies often put out that movie.

BLOOD CREATURE (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Creature-Werewolf-Girls-Dormitory/dp/B00005A07J/sr=1-97/qid=1169759554/ref=sr_1_97/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - A Filipino movie better known as TERROR IS A MAN.

PIRANHA, PIRANHA - The Internet Movie Database makes it look like a US/Venezula co-production, If so, there could be legal wiggle room (assuming its PD status is correct to begin with).

Remember, foreign movies would have to be public domain in their country of origin in order to be public domain in America.

Other titles worthy of note:

THEY CALL ME BRUCE - I don't know if it's licensed or not and I was unable to find the rightsholder. Can anyone help me out?

DAWN OF THE MUMMY (http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Mummy-Brenda-King/dp/B0000V48LG/sr=1-84/qid=1169759254/ref=sr_1_84/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - This is a full frame, VHS quality transfer, but it has a commentary track. This has led some people to suspect (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.horror/browse_thread/thread/918b2d23816ff279/59db2981702a555a?lnk=st&q=%22dawn+of+the+mummy%22+madacy&rnum=1&hl=en#59db2981702a555a) that it's a rip of the Anchor Bay UK release (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc/browse_thread/thread/a12b4561f174cf47/d39daaf57c093dba?lnk=st&q=%22dawn+of+the+mummy%22+madacy&rnum=2&hl=en#d39daaf57c093dba). Maybe I should contact Harmony Gold...

THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - I once heard that, in the 1980's, Roger Corman put out an ad in Variety saying that this wasn't PD. Can anyone fill me in on that?

HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLEN (Made in the 70's, so depending on how it fell into the public domain, it might be covered by various copyright law updates)


To be fair, I do believe that some of their stuff is licensed, but that's usually for the more modern movies (at least I hope they licensed those Chuck Norris movies...)

Contact information:

Madacy Entertainment LP
3333 Graham Blvd., Suite 102
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3R 3L5

www.madacy.com

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

The company we know as "Mill Creek Entertainment" started out as "Treeline Films," which is owned/distributed by Digital1Stop. I should note that I could've sworn that I saw a reference to a "Mill Creek Entertainment" existing prior to Treeline a few years back, but I was unable to find it again.

Treeline started out with dollar DVDs packaged in amaray cases, but soon moved on to 50 movie collections. As you can imagine, two movies squeezed onto one side of a DVD does not make for good compression or quality. Another problem with Mill Creek DVDs is that in some players, movies can't be fast-forwarded or rewound over the "2X" setting or the movie will skip to the next chapter stop. Sometimes, a movie will briefly pause and/or skip ahead by a few seconds, depending on what type of DVD player you are using. I should also note that Mill Creek steals plot descriptions from the Internet Movie Database to put on their disc holders in the megapacks. Recently, Mill Creek has started repackaging its (10 and 20 movie collections) and has started putting a screen bug on its movie prints (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:ActfpaCmz4MJ:www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D20639+%22mill+creek+entertain ment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=223).

Some of its questionable single DVD releases include:

DEMON (GOD TOLD ME TO) - Uses stock footage from SPACE: 1999, a British series.
DEMON RAGE (http://web.archive.org/web/20040423173358/http://www.treelinefilms.com/product/video/chills.shtml)
HORROR HOTEL
WANTED: BABYSITTER
BLACK COBRA
CLASH OF THE NINJA
FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH
HEADHUNTER (taken from old rainbow video tape, "Screening" appears at points during the movie)
NINJA DEATH 1
THE REAL BRUCE LEE
STREET GANGS OF HONG KONG

Thanks to archive.org, I was able to look at Treeline's original website and found two titles that they used to offer, but were no longer listed on later versions of their website (before becoming Mill Creek): EzCode Parsing Error:=http://web.archive.org/web/20030208123451/www.treelinefilms.com/treeline_martial.htmONE DOWN, TWO TO GO[ and THE MIND SNATCHERS (http://web.archive.org/web/20030208123449/www.treelinefilms.com/treeline_action.htm). I'm guessing that Anchor Bay sued them over "ONE DOWN", but I have no idea who sued them over THE MIND SNATCHERS.

Oh, and here's what they were planning on releasing back in 2003. (http://web.archive.org/web/20030208122620/www.treelinefilms.com/treeline_future.htm)

Later, Mill Creek put out double feature dollar DVDs under the name "Dollar Entertainment" (http://www.microcenter.com/game_room/movies/movie_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=2255 27) (as proven by the fact that they're released by Digital1Stop, who has the same contact information as Mill Creek). This line included several movies that weren't made in America, so there is a chance that they are still copyrighted in their country of origin. Such examples include NIGHTMARE CASTLE (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:oRVAKgllUe8J:blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qzcELew6frWBZspks_7SsnUuv9VNTUA-%3Fcq%3D1%26bid%3D138%26yy%3D2006%26mm%3D10+%22dol lar+entertainment%22+%22mill+creek%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9&ie=UTF-8) (that link includes a note showing the Mill Creek/Dollar Entertainment connection), ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS, and GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE. It should also be noted that their NIGHTMARE CASTLE release has the exact same artifacting as the one put out by PC Treasures.

Some of the many questionable releases that Mill Creek has put out in its megapacks:

ROBOT MONSTER - A representative from Alpha video once remarked that they found ROBOT MONSTER was still under copyright.

MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET

DESTROY ALL PLANETS

STAR ODYSSEY

ALIEN CONTAMINATION (paging Blue Underground...)

The Blind Dead movies (paging Blue Underground again...)

DEATH MACHINES - I believe this is owned by Crown International Pictures

THE DEVIL TIMES FIVE (Paging CodeRed DVD...)

THE IMPOSSIBLE KID

CATHY'S CURSE - Not only is this a Canadian movie, but it also has the Sinister Cinema watermark on the print!

ALIEN SPECIES - This was made in 1996, long after all copyright protection laws got upgraded.

DR. TARR'S TORTURE DUNGEON - aka MANSION OF MADNESS, which is currently licensed to Mondo Macabro.

BAD TASTE

DEEP RED

THE REVENGE OF DR. X

DRILLER KILLER

WERWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN

NINJA CHAMPION

NINJA: THE PROTECTOR (fake widescreen)

NINJA EMPIRE - This isn't the real NINJA EMPIRE, it's a retitled, reedited version of NINJA PHANTOM HEROES USA (http://imdb.com/title/tt0199840/)

SNAKE FIST DYNAMO - This and the above ninja titled are copyrighted by IFD films.

DEADLY DUO - One of the many non-US movies that could be covered by the Berne Convention (I recently learned that this is really a retitled 2 GREAT CAVALIERS and not the Shaw Brothers movie). Hell, I'd say 99% of their martial arts titles would fall into that category.

I should note that the following films were removed from the martial arts 50 movie pack and replaced with movies from the "Black Cobra" series:

SHAOLIN INVINCIBLES
BRUCE LEE THE INVINCIBLE
KILLER OF SNAKES, FOX OF SHAOLIN

This is rumored to be the work of Tai Seng Entertainment (http://p210.ezboard.com/Mill-Creeks-MARTIAL-ARTS-SET/fthelatarniaforumsfrm40.showMessage?topicID=12.top ic), although I wonder why they didn't go after Mill Creek for SPIRITS OF BRUCE LEE. I should also note that the above link contians a list of all the martial arts titles contained on their "Martial Arts Megapack."

It's been reported that Mill Creek removed CHRISTMAS EVIL and THE MILPITAS MONSTER from one of their collections, only to add THE DEVIL TIMES FIVE (which was released by CodeRed DVD). (http://p210.ezboard.com/Mill-Creek-Changes-CHILLING-CLASSICS-adds-DEVIL-TIMES-FIVE/fthelatarniaforumsfrm10.showMessage?topicID=434.to pic)

If you want to learn more about their collections, just browse through the "Alphaville" (http://p210.ezboard.com/Alphaville/fthelatarniaforumsfrm15) and "World of Horror" (http://p210.ezboard.com/The-World-of-Horror/fthelatarniaforumsfrm10) forums. Just keep in mind that only of their stuff seems to truly be in the public domain.

Due to the many shared titles on Mill Creek/Treeline's DVD packs and its library, Desert Island Films (desertislandfilms.com) is suspected of having been a print source at one point. You can read some very interesting stories about DIF here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:pGpEN58EEBcJ:www.topiclink.com/info/article%3Fpage%3D6+%22desert+island+films%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10)

Contact information:

Desert Island Films
201 Bingham Road
Carlisle, MA 01741

Phones: 978-254-5127 or 800-766-8550
Fax: 978-254-5135

www.desertislandfilms.com

Go dig through their "drive-in classics" section and try and tell me that those titles don't look familiar. Also, notice how they have a "copyrighted" section. Although I agree that the titles in that section are probably copyrighted, I wonder who he claims they're copyrighted to?

I also noticed a "high definition" section: www.desertislandfilms.com/hd.html

Gee, I wonder if any of those "hi-def" movies have remastered DVD releases?

However, I've noticed that THE IMPOSSIBLE KID isn't on desert Island Films' website. My attempts to find a print source led me to "The PD Source" (www.thepdsource.net). However, I'm not sure if this is a website that "licenses." You can see a cache of the website's list here. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Auj7ufiZBQEJ:www.thepdsource.net/FilmList.asp+%22impossible+kid%22+%22public+domain %22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=30)

It seems that they recently licensed ACAPULCO H.E.A.T? (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5618)

Speaking of licensing, they've licensed titles to EZTakes (previously noted in the Crash Cinema profile). (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Iv2ZoY7uhcMJ:images.eztakes.com/corporate/press-releases/2006-10-24-Mill_Creek.pdf+%22mill+creek+entertainment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=17)

They also teamed up with Maxim Media (no, not *that* Maxim) to create an indie horror line called "Pendulum Pictures." (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:pyCjGErxYbgJ:www.filmmakers.com/news/film/article_583.shtml+%22mill+creek+entertainment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4)

But wait, who else is doing business with Pendulum? Why, it's our old friends at Brian Damage Films (who act as another distributor)! Check out www.braindamagefilms.com/pendulum-pictures if you don't believe me. Also note that the president of Brain Damage is also the head of Maxim Media.

Two particular collections in the Pendulum line-up interest me:

Serial Psychos, which is rumored to contain a retitled, VHS-quality version of the 1986 Canadian horror movie CITY IN PANIC (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:3wzj13ilpnsJ:warrenzone.blogspot.co m/2006_07_01_warrenzone_archive.html+%22city+in+pani c%22+warrenzone&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1). Make of that what you will. This Amazon listing implies that the movie has been retitled as THIRTEEN (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:zTiGMPt6b0kJ:www.amazon.com/Serial-Psychos-Various/dp/B000ELJ7FO+%22city+in+panic%22+%22serial+psychos%2 2&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1).

Also, their "Hostile Hauntings" collection contains a movie called THE SHUNNED HOUSE, a somewhat recent Italian-made Lovecraft adaptation. I have no idea how some indie film company got ahold of the rights to that. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just saying that I'm puzzled by this. Hopefully, someone will be able to track down the rights holder and ask them

Contact information:

Mill Creek Entertainment

2445 Nevada Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55427
Toll-Free: (866) 410 9000
Fax: (763) 595 9884

www.millcreekent.com/contact_us.html

Also, that information matches up perfectly with the contact information to Digital1Stop that was given on Treeline's now-defunct "contact us" page (http://web.archive.org/web/20040414143951/www.treelinefilms.com/about.htm).

DVDMegaPacks.com
2445 Nevada Avenue North
Golden Valley, MN 55427

Phone: 888-577-0666

www.dvdmegapacks.com/customerservice.php

www.millcreekent.com
www.digital1stop.com
www.dvdmegapacks.com

And just in case we ever find out who owns CITY IN PANIC (which is Canadian and would be covered by the Berne Convention if copyrighted)...

Brain Damage Films

5025 South Ash Ave Building B2
Tempe, AZ 85282

Phone: (480) 966-4070
Fax: (480) 966-4570

www.emaximmedia.com
www.braindamagefilms.com
www.braindamagehorrormovies.com

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Although their covers credit "Digital Value Entertainment" for the creation of these movie four packs (well, four movies on one DVD), a closer look at the packaging will yield a reference to the company being distributed by Hannover House. In fact, even online retailers list the DVDs as being from Hannover House (http://www.amazon.com/Martial-Arts-Samurai-Pack-4pak/dp/B0001ZX04M). But before I get into more detail about that, let's look at their more questionable titles:


Martial Arts Samurai Pack: (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2693674)

(THE) STREET FIGHTER
KUNG FU, PUNCH OF DEATH
BRUCE LEE...THE MAN, THE MYTH
LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI

Martial Arts Action Pack: (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2409019)

FIST OF FEAR (TOUCH OF DEATH)
SCREAMING NINJA
RAGE OF THE MASTER
SNAKE CRANE SECRET

And as I've said before, these films' being made in non-American countries (or in FOF, TOD's case, using footage from foreign movies) could provide them with a "get out of jail free" card if they're copyrighted in their country of origin (and if they were ever truly in the American public domain to begin with).

Digital Value Entertainment also did a comedy collection, a tv series collection, and there might be a western collection.

Since they don't seem to have a website of their own, let's go to Hannover House's website (www.hannoverhouse.com):

If you look under the "Hannover's Top Selling Catalog Hits" section, you'll find references to a "Radco Martial Arts 4-pack" and "Radco Samurai 4-Pack". If you look in their catalog (http://www.hannoverhouse.com/titles_12-19-06.html), you'll find them listed as being "Radco" titles again (entry numbers 65 and 66). You'll also find references to DVD of THOR AND THE AMAZON WOMEN and REVENGE OF THE BARBARIANS. While not listed as "Radco" titles, they're still sketchy.

Doing an online search for "Radco" turns up "The Richard Diercks Company, Inc." (who worked with Brentwood and Simitar in the past), which also calls itself "RADCO." And if you scroll down to the "A few of our clients" section on www.dvdauthor.com , you'll find a reference to Hannover House. So it seems that Hannover House had "Radco" do the transfers for their martial arts DVDs (along with other movie titles).

Oh, and according to a October 5, 2006 press release (www.hannoverhouse.com/Press/PressDec2006.html), Hannover House has "...entered into a Sales & Fulfillment venture with Allumination Filmworks of Woodland Hills , CA . The new structure, effective immediately, will turn over to Allumination most of the field sales and order processing functions for Hannover House titles, effective immediately."

Contact information:

Hannover House
1722 N. College St., Suite C-303
Fayetteville , AR 72703

Phone: (479) 521-4999
Fax: (479) 575-9393

www.hannoverhouse.com/Contacts/Contacts.html

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

It all started when I tried researching who owned MAZES AND MONSTERS; I discovered a reference to a 1999 court case where Trimark (Now Lionsgate) sued a company called Western International, Inc. over the rights to the movie (http://www.entlawdigest.com/search.cfm?IssueID=8). Trimark claimed to own the rights, but Western claimed that they held the European and International Rights.

While searching for more information on "Western International," I found a reference to them selling MAZES AND MONSTERS to "Mac Filmworks" in 2005 (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Lzgfh9o1qdsJ:www.secinfo.com/d14hr2.z9.a.htm+%22western+international,+inc%22+m ac+filmworks&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3). Did they win the lawsuit? Were they selling the movie rights despite not having the American rights? The other movies included in the sale were:

DAUGHTERS OF DEATH
ENCORE
THE GLADIATOR
THE GOOD IDEA
LINE OF FIRE
MAZES AND MONSTERS
MESMERIZED
SCANDAL SHEET
WHO MURDERED JOY MORGAN
A WOMAN ACCUSED

MAZES AND MONSTERS' IMDB profile (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084314/companycredits) doesn't list either company as being involved in the film's production or owning the rights (But I should note that one of the companies that created it, Proctor and Gamble Productions, still exists). A copyright.gov search only found the copyright for the novel that the movie was based on.

In their own words (http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.vf2r.htm#1stPage), Mac Filmworks is "...a development stage company with a limited operating history. We were organized as a Delaware corporation in September 1997, under the name Keystone Entertainment, Inc., as a wholly-owned subsidiary of G/O International Inc., a publicly held Colorado corporation. In October 1997, we entered a reorganization agreement with Mac Filmworks, Inc., a Texas corporation, which was formed in November 1994 to acquire, license and distribute classic films, television serials, children's programming and other film products." In 1997, they also did film purchasing agreements with a company called "Ramm Films" for 96 films and with Saturn Productions, Inc. for 300 films (Yeah, I know. I'll be getting to that). In January of 1998, they officially changed their name to "Mac Filmworks, Inc."

In May 2005, "Ramm Films was unable to deliver 96 films under a purchase agreement executed in September 1997. Under the purchase agreement, the Company issued a $8,000 note, paid$6,000 cash and issued 2,000 shares of common stock to Ramm Films. To settle claims against Ramm Films and for receipt of$5,000, it agreed to cancel the $8,000 note and deliver 25 other films". Okay, somebody please tell me that I read this wrong and that this doesn't say that they continued to pay a company after said company failed to provide any films. They also did some financial stuff with Saturn, sold some films to Amity Entertainment, and when Western International failed to give them some films, they "...paid a total of $19,990, issued an aggregate of 67,400 shares of common stock and issued two notes in the aggregate principal amount of $287,000, for the purchase of the films. To settle potential claims against Western International and for receipt of $20,000, Western International agreed to cancel the two notes and return 50,000 shares of common stock." What...the...hell?

In August 2005, their "...public offering of units expired because the minimum number of units in the offering was not raised" and they made a deal with a company called Berliner Holdings "...for the purchase of 276 martial arts feature films". Other than that, they seem to want to break into the home video market, but keep making bad deals. And let's not forget that they own a library of "...approximately 1036 films, of which 28 are copyrighted and 1008 are public domain titles." Some of the titles they list in their library are:

HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLAN - They claim it's copyrighted to them. All I could find on copyright.gov was that the novel is still under copyright.

PLANET OF THE DINOSAURS - They claim it's public domain.

THE 39 STEPS (based on a novel)
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
and "seventeen other feature films by Alfred Hitchcock," which they claim are all public domain. I believe those are Hitchcock's British movies, so they might be covered by the Berne Convention, Copyright Restoration Act, etc..

TUNNELVISION - If you do a copyright.gov search for it, you'll find that it's copyrighted. Nice research, Mac Filmworks!

Their plan for their DVD line is to "...copy four to six public domain films, along with one of our copyrighted films, onto one DVD and to sell to the public". They also make several references to martial arts titles, which makes me nervous. Also worthy of note is that they "...hope to begin marketing our DVDs in June 2006, but because the cost of creating DVD masters is prohibitive, we will only test the market with a few of our titles. However, there is no guaranty, and we provide no assurance, that we will be able to sell any of our films on DVDs."

And look, they've got some releases listed at Amazon.com. (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/103-3277097-7415010?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=mac+filmworks&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go) They don't seem to be following their original DVD plan, but I can't say that their releases so far have inspired any confidence in the legality of their titles.

And if this (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Zw6lX8ysqosJ:www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/movie/studio/Mac%2BFilmworks%2BInc./a/Mac%2BFilmworks%2BInc..htm+%22mac+filmworks%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) is correct, then they're also handling distribution.

It should be noted that the President of Mac Filmworks seems to be this guy, (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567165/) judging from the fact that Mac Filmworks licensed CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE to another company (http://www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.zY1e.htm) and since he has the same name as the producer for that movie. He's also been noted for running Triad Family Media (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:mCL-Wbwen9cJ:sec.edgar-online.com/2001/10/01/0001015402-01-502882/Section4.asp+%22triad+family+media%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1), which has a copyright.gov listing for an altered (new music and animation) version of SANTA AND THE THREE BEARS. I don't know about the movie itself, but copyright.gov does have the music being listed as being copyrighted. However, they also had a copyright on a reversioned Austrialian movie, so who knows if their copyrights are correct or not.

Oh, and it seems that he's been in legal trouble regarding securities. (http://www.iid.state.ia.us/orders_actions/filmscool.pdf)

Despite having a different address given for their location in other documents, this website (http://sec.edgar-online.com/2001/10/01/0001015402-01-502882/Section27.asp) claims that it's located at:

"the Company Corporation" (Either Mac Filmworks or Keystone Entertainment)

1313 North Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801-1151

Despite the location, I don't think this is the ever mysterious PMC Corporation. However, Mac Filmworks does seem to have a connection of sorts to them via Saturn.

However, Googling that address led me to discover that other (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:QfSAJ37lalQJ:www.secinfo.com/duvJ5.6193.c.htm+%221313+North+Market+Street%22+%2 219801-1151%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6) groups are located at the same address. I've also found references to a "Hercules Plaza" and one source (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:EwACP1QAu_oJ:sec.edgar-online.com/2006/04/07/0001013762-06-000756/Section52.asp+%221313+North+Market+Street%22+%2219 801-1151%22+%22new+castle+county%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2) suggesting that the address should be at:

1313 North Market Street
New Castle County
Wilmington, DE 19801-1151

I've also found a reference to the address being located in Hercules Plaza. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:SgfRRIi4Bl4J:www.cryocare.org/index.cgi%3Fsubdir%3D%26url%3Dbylaws.html+%221313+ North+Market+Street%22+%2219801-1151%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) Searching for that found a reference to the same address, but with a different zip code. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:zfX4xCFY-GwJ:www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/Professional_Resources/Bar_Associations/State/profiles/DE.xml+%221313+North+Market+Street%22+hercules+pla za&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1) I also found what appears to be the namesake (http://www.herc.com/abouthercules/aboutherc.asp) for the plaza (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:KjBdVrVYQ3IJ:www.jigsaw.com/Herculesd/ID141147/company-information.xhtml+%22hercules+plaza%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2).

After succeeding in confusing myself, I think I've figured out what the deal is. My best guess is that the "registered office" for all of those companies is just the office of the person acting as the "incorporator" (http://www.secinfo.com/duvJ5.4fB3d.d.htm) for those companies. In fact, if you look up the name of the incorporator for Mac Filmworks, you'll find that they held the same position (and gave the same address) for other ocmpanies in the area.

(Non-Wilmington) Contact information:

Mac Filmworks, Inc.
9464 Mansfield Road, Suite A-1 and Suite C
Shreveport, LA 71118

Phone: (318) 687-8785
Fax: (318) 687-2515

Separate mailing address:

Mac Filmworks, Inc.
P. O. Box 8846
Shreveport, LA 71148

www.mcflm.com

Stay tuned for part 2, where I provide some more information about Berliner Holdings, Western International, and Saturn Productions!

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

I've discovered that Mac Filmworks has a talent for making deals with companies that don't have a lot of information about them available online. However, I did manged to dig up some stuff about three of the companies they've done business with.

Berliner Holdings:

Berliner Holdings Ltd. bought out an American film-processing company called Tc X Calibur (along with their equipment and library of films) in 2004-2005. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:JbePHULjBGcJ:www.investorguide.com/stock-profile.cgi%3Fticker%3DTCXC+%22berliner+holdings%2 2&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5)

Contact information (sourced from this website (http://www.secinfo.com/dv8zr.38.htm)):

Berliner Holdings Ltd.
181 Carlaw Ave #300
Toronto, ON M4M 2S1
Canada

They also have a Toronto based division called TW Films. If you visit their website (www.interwebinc.com/twfilms), you'll see that they offer two martial arts movies on VHS:

IRON FISTED WARRIOR
DEADLY GAMBLE

Also notice that they're billed as being "karate movies," despite the fact that neither movie was made in Japan. This doesn't exactly boost my confidence in their company.

Contact information:

TW Films
23 Fraser Ave.
Toronto, Ontario M6K 1Y7
Canada

Phone: (416) 352-5208
Toll free: (800) 375-0690
Fax: (416) 534-6815

www.interwebinc.com/twfilms/contact.html

Western International:

Several of the titles that Western International, Inc. offered Mac Filmworks are being sold by Trinity/905, as noted by this MPAA site (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:_b_hq6AebccJ:www.mpaa.org/FlmRat_SrchReslts.asp+905+how+awful+about+allan+mp aa&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1). Did they sell the rights to Trinity as well, hence them not being able to provide the films to Mac Filmworks?

Contact information (as noted here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:989kIMT-qZMJ:www.secinfo.com/d12Gkh.3e.d.htm+%22mac+filmworks%22+%22western%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2)):

Western International, Inc.
2899 Agoura Road
Westlake Village, CA 913161

And it looks like they're in a plaza (or something) as well. (http://www.wvucc.com/contact_us.htm)


Saturn Productions:

Okay, now this is a tricky one. According to EzCode Parsing Error:=]this document[, Saturn Productions, Inc. is located at:

575 Madison Avenue, Suite 1006
New York, NY 10022

I've also found a "certificate of copyright authorization" (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:7lURS_WoCP4J:www.e-jump.com.cn/images/Authorization%2520Certificate(standard).doc+%22Sat urn+Productions%22+%22575+Madison+Avenue%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5) prepared for a Saturn Productions sharing the same address that was done by a DVD pressing/duplication service called E-Jump Co. Ltd. This form also provides the following contact information for Saturn:

Phone: +1 (212) 472-4700
Fax: +1 (212) 472-6249

When I plug the phone number into Google, I get a (mistaken?) reference to a Saturn car dealer and a video duplication service (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:7YYYIXWlmUcJ:www.allpages.com/listings/s/s-1705.html+%22212+472-4700%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4) with a different address than the one on the form. Said contact information is:

Saturn Productions, Inc.
305 East 86th Street
New York, NY 10028-4702
Phone: (212) 472-4700

Searching for "305 East 86th Street" also brings up a lot of other business listings, so I'm assuming that they're sharing the building with other companies.

When I try Googling the address that they provided to Mac Filmworks, I found a lot of references to lawyers (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:M59R0_wcZ54J:www.becklerlaw.com/+%22575+Madison+Avenue,+Suite+1006%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6) and some other miscellanous organizations (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:xppsnrOTdmQJ:www.britainusa.com/consular/articles_show_nt1.asp%3Fi%3D34004%26L1%3D34000%26L 2%3D34004%26a%3D39404+%22575+Madison+Avenue,+Suite +1006%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7)

Complicating the matters more is that fact that in this document (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:TxBd6zzrYYQJ:www.secinfo.com/d12TC3.vf2r.htm+%22mac+filmworks%22+%22saturn+prod uctions+II%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1), Mac Filmworks makes a reference to "Saturn Productions II." Did they make two separate deals with Saturn or are there two different Saturns that they did business with?

Saturn Productions I sold them 300 supposedly "public domain" movies and Saturn Productions II sold them 27 supposedly "copyrighted" (by Saturn) movies. After rereading document, I suspect that they did two deals with the same company.

For what it's worth, Mac Filmworks' original deal with Saturn (http://www.secinfo.com/d14hr2.z9.b.htm) was a 1997 purchase agreement for "...the sale and purchase of 300 English language feature film master recordings..." Another document (http://www.secinfo.com/d12Gkh.3e.8.htm) goes on to say that the masters must be "...in 35mm, 16mm 1 inch and/or BETA SP video masters, color or black and white, and further described as 'movie elements for video masters' and suitable for conversion to 1 inch video format." Note the "or", which means that as long as it can be converted to 1 inch video tape, they don't care what the source is.

Mac Filmworks' documents also reveal the name of the president of Saturn. After searching using his name and a combination of search terms to see if he was connected to the shady DVD outfit we know as Saturn, I found this website (http://www.colombustore.com/dvd/fiche.asp?Ref=0026617950392) listing him as the producer of a reggae compilation DVD released by Beverly Wilshire Filmworks and Saturn Productions (and get this, it was distributed by our friends at Music Video Distributors (http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:ozmCoFC8L_8J:www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html%3Fcat%3D0%26tiq%3D12587+%22reggae+rocker s%22+dvdaficionado&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1))!

[morgoth]

First of all I read your whole first post but only skimmed through the rest.

I just wanted to note 2 things.

Deadly Duo, which comes on a 20 and 50 pack says on the DVD case it has Ti Lung and David Chiang when it is actually a John Liu Angela Mao film. I believe it is called 2 Great Cavaliers. This happens all the time. Brentwood has a ten pack where the DVD case describes a 1969 Chen Sing Shaw film for Kung Fu Invisible Fist. It is actually an independent Chen Sing film from Ng See-Yuen. Just thought I would point tht out.

Also, I didn't see World Home Video listed. I don't know if they are legit or not but they have a ton of releases. I have Celestial's Killer Clans that was released from them which has all the bonus features included. They have a lot of 3 packs like a Jet Li one and old school movies like Bloody Treasury Fight and that Jackie Chan Invinvible Fighter, the "documentary".

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

First of all I read your whole first post but only skimmed through the rest.

Heh. Usually I get the opposite response from people who post in the other version of this thread. If there's anything that you think could be changed to make this more readable, please let me know.

Deadly Duo, which comes on a 20 and 50 pack says on the DVD case it has Ti Lung and David Chiang when it is actually a John Liu Angela Mao film. I believe it is called 2 Great Cavaliers. This happens all the time. Brentwood has a ten pack where the DVD case describes a 1969 Chen Sing Shaw film for Kung Fu Invisible Fist. It is actually an independent Chen Sing film from Ng See-Yuen. Just thought I would point tht out.

Thanks! Wow, I guess it serves me right for not checking projectaka for "deadly duo", since they note that "TreeLine Film's Martial Arts 50 Movie Pack has 2 Great Cavaliers titled Deadly Duo." I'll make an edit noting that today. If you have any more information that you think will help, please feel free to share it.

Also, I didn't see World Home Video listed. I don't know if they are legit or not but they have a ton of releases. I have Celestial's Killer Clans that was released from them which has all the bonus features included. They have a lot of 3 packs like a Jet Li one and old school movies like Bloody Treasury Fight and that Jackie Chan Invinvible Fighter, the "documentary"

Truth to be told, I actually forgot that World Video existed. I don't know if they're legitimate or not either, although what I've heard about their releases (old movies are full frame and look like VHS tapes, slight pauses during the movie when you reach a chapter stop on some DVDs, have titles that've been released by other companies) do seem questionable at the very least. Especially if I'm reading your post correctly and they released a DVD with the bonus features from a Celestial DVD.

But if I'm reading your post incorrectly (and assuming that the few newsgroup posts I've seen that call them legit are correct), then they could just be a company that made some bad decisions. It'd be a lot easier if I could contact a few of the companies that hold the rights to the movies so I could double-check. Would you (or anyone else reading this) recommend the Hong Kong Movie database website?

I found their website (www.cavd.com/world_video.htm) and looked at what they currently have available (some of their old titles aren't listed there, but can be found here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:NWDBmreeJEQJ:www.yesanime.com/dvd/world%2520video%2520catalogue.doc+%22world+video%2 2+hell%27s+windstaff&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8)), but my knowledge of which company owns what movie is pretty limited. I'm think MADAM CITY HUNTER DVD probably predates Image's licensing of it (I think Tai Seng had it prior to Image, though), but I don't know if they licensed it or not. I've heard there's a law or something that lets you sell overstock of titles that you no longer own the rights to, so that could explain its prescense if that was indeed a licensed release. Can anyone out there who could help me with this?

[morgoth]

Yeah, just thought I would add world Home Video. Killer Clans has Bey Logan commentary and all the extras. They had a TON of releases. Unfortunately I have never seen Ashes of Time only because I bought their version of it and it is the worst DVD ever. Over a third of the picture is cut off. I can't really explain how bad it is. Theri movies are too many to list. Deadend of Besiegers, Kickboxer(Yuen Biao)....

On Amazon all of their releases say the distributor is Cav Distribution.

[silver hermit]

world video released lady city hunter on laser disk before dvd. they released alot before. they are not as active now.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Yeah, just thought I would add world Home Video. Killer Clans has Bey Logan commentary and all the extras.

Okay, if they did a release of the movie by Celestial with the same exact extras then they definitely deserve a slot on the list. I suppose it's possible that they licensed it, but considering they would have to compete with the Weinsteins and Image for the Shaw stuff, I doubt it. If at all possible, would you be able to post a cover scan (or maybe an DVD screenshot or two) to help drive the point home about the shady nature of the release? I'll see what else I can dig up on these guys and then I'll post a note about them in the first post or something.

Theri movies are too many to list. Deadend of Besiegers, Kickboxer(Yuen Biao)....

Yeah, they have a lot of stuff listed on Amazon (which you correctly note often lists their DVDs as being by CAV Distribution), although a few of their discontinued stuff pops up if you search for "world video".

world video released lady city hunter on laser disk before dvd. they released alot before. they are not as active now.

Ah, so I guess they probably beat Tai Seng to the punch in the days of laserdisc. Interestingly enough, they do have the DVD version of that movie still listed on their website.

[morgoth]

"Okay, if they did a release of the movie by Celestial with the same exact extras then they definitely deserve a slot on the list. I suppose it's possible that they licensed it, but considering they would have to compete with the Weinsteins and Image for the Shaw stuff, I doubt it. If at all possible, would you be able to post a cover scan (or maybe an DVD screenshot or two) to help drive the point home about the shady nature of the release? I'll see what else I can dig up on these guys and then I'll post a note about them in the first post or something."

Sorry, I only have a laptop with no extra stuff to go along with it. If it helps the cover has the best shot of the movie. It is the teahouse scene where Yuen Hua is suspended in the air by a lot of ropes.

[morgoth]

just found it

cgi.ebay.com/Killer-Clans...otohosting (http://cgi.ebay.com/Killer-Clans-Shaw-Bros-DVD-All-Region-Eng-Sub_W0QQitemZ9118297667QQihZ011QQcategoryZ617QQrdZ 1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting)

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

just found it

cgi.ebay.com/Killer-Clans...otohosting

Awesome! Thanks!

Maybe it's just because of the size of the images or differences in background colors, but the World Video logo seems to look different on their newer stuff.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Those of you who browse the bargain bins for martial arts movies might be familiar with the "Digital Gold Collection" and the following DVDs:

BRUCE LEE THE MAN, THE MYTH (http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/dvd/reviews/manmythdvd.htm)
LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI
THE STREET FIGHTER

Despite the box promising "Digital 5.1 Surround Sound," they only provide whatever soundtrack was present on their source print. Also, if you look at the fine print on the packaging, you'll see that the DVD is credited to "Leisure Entertainment". You can also find a reference to the two being the same company here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:RkhKvzZSJfEJ:www.dvdtalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-340131.html+%22digital+gold%22+%22leisure+entertai nment%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=7).

The problem with Digital Gold titles (research-wise) is that sites like Amazon only bring up one example of their titles when you do a search for "digital gold." Case in point:

ZULU (http://www.amazon.com/Zulu-Digital-Collection-Michael-Caine/dp/B0007OZ2HA/sr=1-1/qid=1169748563/ref=sr_1_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

I admittedly have no idea about the copyright status of ZULU. However, notice that Digital Gold is mentioned, but "Ideal Distribution" is credited as the company behind them. Sadly, "Ideal Distribution" is such a generic term that all attempts to find the company's website failed.

Now, this was the point where I decided to give up and see if I could find proof of the rumored Unicorn Video/Treasure Box connection, but fate had a surprise in store for me. When I did a search for "unicorn video", I found this listing for a Digital Gold title:

FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH (http://www.amazon.com/Fist-Touch-Death-Matthew-Mallinson/dp/B00005Q4EO/sr=1-5/qid=1169738192/ref=sr_1_5/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

And who's credited as the company behind the release? Unicorn video!

And if we go to an outside source (just in case it's an error on Amazon's part), we still find that Digital Gold titles are credited to Unicorn Video. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1131445-les_miserables/dvd.php) So either Unicorn is behind Digital Gold/Leisure Entertainment or they're just distributing their DVDs.

With that discovery, another search was done using the phrase "unicorn video" to see what would come up. Other Digital Gold/Unicorn martial arts titles include:

THE STREETFIGHTER (http://www.amazon.com/Street-Fighter-Sonny-Chiba/dp/B0000640UT/sr=1-4/qid=1170785877/ref=sr_1_4/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI (http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Eight-Samurai-Hiroko-Yakushimaru/dp/B0000640
UV/sr=1-78/qid=1169738434/ref=sr_1_78/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

BRUCE LEE THE MAN, THE MYTH (http://www.amazon.com/Bruce-Lee-Man-Myth-B-Bruce/dp/B00005UM3K/sr=1-1/qid=1170352491/ref=sr_1_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

SCREAMING NINJA (http://www.amazon.com/Screaming-Ninja-Mien-Dung-Lo/dp/B00005Q4EH/sr=1-136/qid=1170352312/ref=sr_1_136/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

KUNG FU: THE PUNCH OF DEATH (http://www.amazon.com/Kung-Fu-Punch-Death/dp/B0000640V1/sr=1-58/qid=1170351391/ref=sr_1_58/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Image-Bruce-Lee-Kuen-Yeung/dp/B0000640UW/sr=1-41/qid=1170351457/ref=sr_1_41/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE YOUNG MASTER (http://www.amazon.com/Young-Master-Jackie-Chan/dp/B0002JX290/sr=1-40/qid=
1169738329/ref=sr_1_40/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

MASTER WITH CRACKED FINGERS (http://www.amazon.com/Master-Cracked-Fingers-Jackie-Chan/dp/B00097E77Q/sr
=1-54/qid=1169738362/ref=sr_1_54/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE FISTS OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Fist-Fear-Fists-Bruce-Lee/dp/B000087EZJ/sr=1-33/qid=1170354085/ref=sr_1_33/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

SNAKE CRANE SECRET (http://www.amazon.com/Snake-Crane-Secret-Cream/dp/B00005Q4EF/sr=1-80/qid=
1169738434/ref=sr_1_80/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

RAGE OF THE MASTER (http://www.amazon.com/Rage-Master-Ming-tsai-Wu/dp/B00005Q4EE/sr=1-9/qid=1170346741/ref=sr_1_9/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

And then we have the usual gathering of questionable titles:

BLOOD TIDE (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tide-Richard-Jefferies-II/dp/B0000640US/sr=1-153/qid=1170352416/ref=sr_1_153/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - This is an 80's movie, so I dunno if the last round of copyright extention laws would cover this or not.

HORROR HOTEL (http://www.amazon.com/Horror-Hotel-Christopher-Lee/dp/B00065GWTM/sr=1-5/qid=1170346741/ref=sr_1_5/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

CHILLER (http://www.amazon.com/Wes-Cravens-Chiller/dp/B00005UM3Z/sr=1-2/qid=1170356454/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - This is an 80's movie, so I dunno if the last round of copyright extention laws would cover this or not. Lemme check copyright.gov...

4. Registration Number: PAu-757-934
Title: Frozen man no. 59 : p.k.a. Chiller : teleplay : rev. final, Jan. 10, 1985 / by J. D. Feigelson.
Description: 108 p.
Claimant: Frozen Man Productions
Created: 1985
Registered: 8Mar85
Author on © Application: J. D. Felgelson Productions, Inc., employer for hire.
Special Codes: 3/D

It might still be under copyright after all (but I'd have to check if the screenplay covers the filmed version or not)!

WEREWOLF VS. VAMPIRE WOMAN (http://www.amazon.com/Werewolf-Vampire-Woman-Jacinto-Molina/dp/B00065GWWY/sr=1-140/qid=1170352312/ref=sr_1_140/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - I love the cover picture used for this.

CATHY'S CURSE (http://www.amazon.com/Cathys-Curse-Alan-Scarfe/dp/B00065GWRY/sr=1-88/qid=1170351959/ref=sr_1_88/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - You just knoiw this uses the same Sinister Cinema watrermarked print that Brentwood, et. al uses

CIRCUS OF FEAR (http://www.amazon.com/Circus-Fear-Christopher-Lee/dp/B00065GWS8/sr=1-89/qid=1170351959/ref=sr_1_89/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

BLUE DEMON CONTRA LAS CEREBROS INFERNALES (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Deamon-Contra-Cerebros-Infer/dp/B0001US6R8/sr=1-132/qid=1170352281/ref=sr_1_132/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Yes, Unicorn had a line of Mexican DVDs (http://p210.ezboard.com/Unicorn-Video-DVDs/fthelatarniaforumsfrm4.showMessage?topicID=256.top ic). No, I don't know if they're licensed or PD.

MIGHTY MOUSE AND OTHER CARTOON TREASURES (http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mouse-Other-Cartoon-Treasure/dp/B00065GWPQ/sr=1-44/qid=1170351332/ref=sr_1_44/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - It says "Unicorn" and doesn't show any box art, but it sure reminds me of Treasure Box for some reason

SUPERMAN AND OTHER CARTOON TREASURES (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Other-Cartoon-Treasures/dp/B00065GWQA/sr=1-38/qid=1170351457/ref=sr_1_38/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Okay, now we have a Family Value Collection release with the studio being listed as "Unicorn".

FELIX THE CAT AND OTHER CARTOON TREASURES (http://www.amazon.com/Felix-Cat-Other-Cartoon-Treasures/dp/B00065GWME/sr=1-124/qid=1170352281/ref=sr_1_124/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Their listing for this title is the same as well.

And as we all know, the "Family Value Collection" is just another name for the "Treasure Box Collection" (http://community.livejournal.com/cheap_dvds/7870.html) We also know that they're no strangers to swiping other companies' transfers (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-qzcELew6frWBZspks_7SsnUuv9VNTUA-?cq=1&p=100) and cover art (http://community.livejournal.com/cheap_dvds/18162.html) (along with online movie reviews).

In fact, they got in trouble in October 2005 and had to have several of their discs (http://community.livejournal.com/cheap_dvds/17199.html) recalled from Dollar Tree stores. (http://p210.ezboard.com/Family-Value-horror-DVDs-removed-from-Dollar-Tree-shelves/fthelatarniaforumsfrm15.showMessage?topicID=86.top ic)

But we're getting off track...

I also found a DVD called FELIX THE CAT-LIVE! (http://www.amazon.com/Felix-the-Cat-Live/dp/B000EY1FXS/sr=1-1/qid=1170352885/ref=sr_1_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) Although it's credited to "DVD Family Classics," the people I know who've bought/seen it say that it's a Treasure Box title. After all, it has the same "Platinum Collection" (not to be confused with the Platinum Disc Corporation) markings as these DVDs (http://community.livejournal.com/cheap_dvds/15073.html) that were identified as being Family Value collection releases. And also note that when you search for those DVDs on Amazon, the studio listed for them is the Family Value Collection! (http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Elvis-Home-Movies/dp/B000ANGXZS/sr=1-1/qid=1170354740/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

I also found a Unicorn DVD listing for RIDERS OF WHISTLING PINES/SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (http://www.amazon.com/Riders-Whistling-Pines-Springtime-Rockies/dp/B00008
7EZM/sr=1-139/qid=1169738702/ref=sr_1_139/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=d
vd) (which I think was also a Treasure Box title), but the credited studio is "Unicorn (tnt200)." It's also noted as being an "Ideal2pak".

Since some Digital Gold title were listed as being from "Ideal" and some Treasure Box double features were listed as being in an "Ideal2pak," I tried searching for "ideal". I got several results for "two packs," but I also found a DVD of ASYLUM (http://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Peter-Cushing/dp/B00005ICGV/sr=1-47/qid=1170354148/ref=sr_1_47/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) that's listed as being from Ideal Enterprises. Sadly, all efforts to find a company with that name failed.

Searching for DVDs on Amazon using the search term "tnt200" brings up dvds by Unicorn, Treasure Box/Family Value, and "Morningstar." Similarly, doing a Google search brought up numerous references to Unicorn, Treasure Box, and Morningstar Entertainment. In fact, trying to look at a cache of www.morningstarent.com gives you a notice that "tnt200" appears in links to the website only (but that'll have to wait for now).

I tried to find a website for Unicorn Video, but I wasn't very successfull. I did find several sets of contact information, though:

Found in a newsgroup post circa 1998 (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.cult-movies/browse_thread/thread/432c2d63a9a22845/e880e86d43f47ce0?lnk=st&q=800-528-4336&rnum=1&hl=en#e880e86d43f47ce0):

Unicorn Video
9025 Eton Ave., Ste. D
Canoga Park, CA 91304

(818) 407-1333
(800) 528-4336

Found here (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:FW19psDCXWMJ:goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000217615-page.html+unicorn+video,+inc+goliath.ecnext.com&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us), so it seems to be more recent:

Unicorn Video Inc.
21119 Osborne St.
Canoga Park, CA 91304
United States

Phone: (818) 407-1333
Fax: (818) 407-8246

However, I found another reference to Unicorn in this 2002 dated article (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DE1630F936A25757C0A9669582 60&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2). Said article says that their phone number is (800) 528-4336 (which matches the 1999 number), but also says that they're located in Chatsworth California. A Google search did turn up several library references to videos produced by Unicorn being from Chatsworth, but the only addresses I could find were all at their Canoga Park address (http://www.unicornvideo.visualnet.com).

Complicating things was a reference to a "Casablanca/Unicorn Video" release that I found (http://www.videogo.com/catalogSearch.cfm?Buspart_Code=CSBC). However, the address given for that particular Unicorn didn't match up with the others!

Unicorn Video Inc.
2149 63rd Avenue
E. Bradenton, FL 34203

Phone: (941) 753-4400

But Google maps (http://www.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=941+753-4400&near=34203&radius=0.0&latlng=27444871,-82540400,9199255550707696997&sa=X&oi=local&ct=authority&cd=1) says that this is the address:

Unicorn Video Inc
2206 72nd Dr E
Sarasota, FL 34243

Phone: (941) 753-4400

It seems that this "Unicorn Video" is the exclusive US distributor of "Casablanca Kids" products (www.casablancakids.com/jazzbaby/jazzbabies.html). Google Maps wasn't any help since it listed both the Florida and Canoga Park Unicorns (although the Cangoa Park one was listed as being "unverified") and then notes a "Unicorn DVD" in New York (although that might be a video rental store).

To make matters even crazier, none of their contact infromation matches up with that of the other "tnt200" company, Morningstar Entertainment. But that's an update for another time...

Oh, and if you know anything about Morningstar, Jef Films, Televista, Substance, Genius Products/Entertainment, or Liberation Entertainment, please feel free to share.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Due to a variety of reasons, I'm not able to post "Part 2" yet. I should also note that Genius Products and Morningstar Entertainment are not linked in any significant way (they just license some cartoons from the same company). But, I shall provide another company profile to tide you all over...

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Although I listed three names above, you're probably the most familiar with the Woodhaven name. That's probably for the best, seeing as the other two names seem to only be used on the business and distribution side of things.

They offer a lot of standard PD fare and questionable stuff we've all seen before. Stuff like:

BLOOD OF THE DRAGON (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Dragon-Ian-Whyte-III/dp/B000056HT0/sr=1-1/qid=1170560621/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH (http://www.amazon.com/Fist-Fear-Touch-Death-Williamson/dp/B000056HT3/sr=1-1/qid=1170560749/ref=sr_1_1/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
THE REAL BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Real-Bruce-Lee/dp/B000056HT6/sr=1-1/qid=1170560722/ref=sr_1_1/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
THE 36 CRAZY FISTS (http://www.amazon.com/36-Crazy-Fists-Jackie-Chan/dp/B00005Y808/sr=1-90/qid=1170131596/ref=sr_1_90/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
RUMBLE IN HONG KONG (http://www.amazon.com/Rumble-Hong-Kong-Jackie-Chan/dp/B000059HBI/sr=1-104/qid=1170131617/ref=sr_1_104/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
THE YOUNG MASTER (http://www.amazon.com/Young-Master-Jackie-Chan/dp/B000056BP8/sr=1-161/qid=1170131754/ref=sr_1_161/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Please tell me that I'm just imagining things and that the DVD cover doesn't look like someone ripped the front off a VHS box, scanned it into a computer, and then made it into a cover.

SANTA AND THE THREE BEARS (http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Three-Bears/dp/B0002JELVS/sr=1-66/qid=1170131509/ref=sr_1_66/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

But just when you think it's safe, they throw these curveballs at you:

AFRICA BLOOD AND GUTS (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0001FGBYS/ref=s9_asin_title_1/105-6409139-8944440) - This is the cut version of AFRICA ADDIO. The full version of that movie was released by Blue Underground.

MONDO MAGIC (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0001FGBXO/ref=s9_asin_title_2/105-6409139-8944440)

SLAVE TRADE IN THE WORLD TODAY (http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Trade-World-Robert-Lamoureux/dp/B0001FGBPM/sr=1-2/qid=1170131340/ref=sr_1_2/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

KWAHERI (http://www.amazon.com/Kwaheri/dp/B0001FGBY8/sr=1-64/qid=1170131509/ref=sr_1_64/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

MONDO CANE (http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0001FGBWA/ref=s9_asin_title_3/105-6409139-8944440) - Paging Blue Underground...

MONDO CANE 2 (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/M-P/mondo_cane_2.html) - This review shows the poor VHS quality of the Woodhaven release. (Paging Blue Underground...)


OF THE DEAD (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/M-P/of_the_dead.html) - Another review with pictures.

Although Blue Underground has three of those titles in common with Woodhaven, I'm stumped about the others. Are they bootlegs? The results of someone getting creative with an old contract?

Contact information:

Since Intermedia's contact site only gave the retailer contact information ((818) 882-3073), I had to go to www.woodhavenentertainment.com/woodhaven-mail-fax-order-form.pdf to get their address:

Intermedia Video Products, LLC
21329 Nordhoff Street,
Chatsworth, CA 91311

Telephone: 800-356-0944
Fax: 800-228-2209

www.intermediavideo.com/aboutus.html
www.woodhavenentertainment.com

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Jalisco Films is (was?) a cheap DVD company mostly known for its questionable martial arts DVDs. Some of the titles it offered were:

BRUCE LEE, WE MISS YOU (http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/dvd/reviews/wemissyoudvd.htm) - Review
THE TIGERS FROM CANTON (http://www.amazon.com/Tigers-Canton-Liang-Ki-Cheng/dp/B000IB16J0/sr=1-12/qid=1170907603/ref=sr_1_12/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
FISTS OF FURY III (http://www.geocities.com/many_bruces/dvd/reviews/fof3dvd.htm) - Review
REBELS UNDER SIEGE
BRUCE LEE IN NEW GUINEA (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/BruceLeeInNewGuinea_JaliscoFilms.jpg)
BOLO (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/Bolo_JaliscoFilms.jpg)
CANTONEN IRON KUNG FU
KUNG FU HERO
MILITANT EAGLE
THE UNCONQUERED
THE SWORDSWOMAN IN WHITE
THE PRISONER OF FIVE BOULDERS
THE LAW AND THE OUTLAW II: THE SEVEN MUSKETEERS
THE LAW AND THE OUTLAW III: THE BUDDHA CONSPIRACY
BLIND FIST OF BRUCE (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/BlindFistOfBruce_JaliscoFilms.jpg)
BRUCE LEE'S SECRET (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/BruceLeesSecret_JaliscoFilms.jpg)
BRUCE LE'S GREATEST REVENGE (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/BruceLesGreatestRevenge_JaliscoFilms.jpg)
THE COLD MOUNTAIN TEMPLE
IN SWORD WE TRUST
A BLOOD STAINED SWORD (http://shaolinchamber.com/images/covers/Cover_Scans/BloodStainedSword_JaliscoFilms.jpg)

I also found a post saying that they may have gone by the name "Media Trading Network" at one point (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:d3r6M25A3I8J:p210.ezboard.com/fthelatarniaforumsfrm4.showNextMessage%3FtopicID%3 D189.topic+%22media+trading+network%22+latarnia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&ie=UTF-8). If so, they distributed some questionable DVDs of BLUE DEMON CONTRA LOS CEREBROS INERNALES and BLUE DEMON CONTRA LAS INVASORAS

Sadly, that's all I've been able to find for now, so any help on the amtter would be greatly appreciated. I did find a physical address for a company called "Jalisco Films" online, but I won't post it here since I don't know fi they're the right company.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Legacy is a Canadian company that miht've started out as a music company. They do DVDs in single movie format, double feature dvds, and dvd 4-packs (really two double feature DVDs packaged together). Although they seem to have some licensed, recently-made indie movies in their catalog, they also have several questionable titles. First, there's the questionable movies that've turned up on other budget DVD labels:

CHILLER (http://www.amazon.com/Wes-Cravens-Chiller-Beck/dp/B0000DE6B2/sr=1-7/qid=1171033415/ref=sr_1_7/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

SCANDAL SHEET (http://www.amazon.com/Scandal-Sheet/dp/B00077BONI/sr=1-42/qid=1171033569/ref=sr_1_42/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

HANGAR 18 (http://www.amazon.com/Hangar-18-Garren-Mcgavin/dp/B0001W1BYQ/sr=1-168/qid=1171034430/ref=sr_1_168/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

CRAZY STREETS (http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Streets-Baldwin/dp/B0007CILRA/sr=1-17/qid=1171033485/ref=sr_1_17/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLEN (http://www.amazon.com/Intense-Thrillers-1/dp/B0009X57XS/sr=1-90/qid=1171034201/ref=sr_1_90/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

KISS DADDY GOODNIGHT (http://www.amazon.com/Intense-Thrillers-1/dp/B0009X57XS/sr=1-90/qid=1171034201/ref=sr_1_90/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE BLACK COBRA (http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Cop-Thrillers-2/dp/B0009X76EG/sr=1-87/qid=1171034201/ref=sr_1_87/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE BLACK COBRA II (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Cobra-II-Fred-Williamson/dp/B0007CILQ6/sr=1-51/qid=1171033589/ref=sr_1_51/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY (http://www.amazon.com/Night-Horrors-2pc-2pk/dp/B0009X5850/sr=1-80/qid=1171034127/ref=sr_1_80/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

BLOOD TIDE (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tide-Jones/dp/B0009X57P6/sr=1-55/qid=1171033589/ref=sr_1_55/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

FUNLAND (http://www.amazon.com/Funland-Lander/dp/B0001W1BZ0/sr=1-33/qid=1171033528/ref=sr_1_33/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

HOUSE OF THE DEAD (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7001693&style=movie&BAB=E)

WEB OF THE SPIDER (http://www.amazon.com/Web-Spider-Kinski/dp/B00077BOQU/sr=1-134/qid=1171034380/ref=sr_1_134/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME (http://www.amazon.com/Just-Laughs-1/dp/B0009X57YC/sr=1-120/qid=1171034359/ref=sr_1_120/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE MIND SNATCHERS (http://www.amazon.com/Mind-Snatchers-Christopher-Walken/dp/B00077BOJC/sr=1-142/qid=1171034380/ref=sr_1_142/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Remember, Treeline got in trouble over this movie...

CREEPERS (http://www.amazon.com/Creepers/dp/B00030WW5I/sr=1-146/qid=1171034408/ref=sr_1_146/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Paging Anchor Bay and/or William Lustig...

(THE) JAWS OF DEATH (http://www.amazon.com/Jaws-Death-Jaeckel/dp/B00077BOGU/sr=1-157/qid=1171034430/ref=sr_1_157/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - You can read a review of the movie here. (http://www.dvdtalk.com/cineschlock/archives/2005/05/captured_mako_t.html)

They also have an interesting assortment of martial arts titles:

DRAGON FIST - (aka IN EAGLE DRAGON FIST and DRAGON HERO)The Amazon profile claims it's subtitled.

<!--EZCODE LINK START-->GOODBYE BRUCE LEE , HIS LAST GAME OF (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Fist-Sub-Chan/dp/B0009X57QA/sr=1-30/qid=1171033528/ref=sr_1_30/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)<!--EZCODE LINK END-- - Instead of linking to an Amazon profile, I've decided to link to a review with screenshots. Also, paging Anchor Bay...

BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE (http://www.amazon.com/Bruces-Fist-Vengeance/dp/B0001V0026/sr=1-31/qid=1171033528/ref=sr_1_31/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

DRAGON STRIKES BACK (http://DRAGONSTRIKESBACK) - This seems to be an alternate title for THE FIGHTING FISTS OF SHANGHAI JOE. I've also heard that this is subtitled.

THE STREETFIGHTER (http://www.amazon.com/Street-Fighter-Sub-Chiba/dp/B0009X57T2/sr=1-58/qid=1171033589/ref=sr_1_58/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - The Amazon profile claims that it's subtitled.

BLOOD OF THE DRAGON (http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Dragon-Yu/dp/B0009X57OW/sr=1-54/qid=1171033589/ref=sr_1_54/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE REAL BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Real-Bruce-Lee/dp/B0009X57SS/sr=1-107/qid=1171034278/ref=sr_1_107/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

PROJECT: KILL (http://www.amazon.com/Project-Kill-Project-Kill/dp/B000CQLZ4M/sr=1-130/qid=1171034327/ref=sr_1_130/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

FISTS OF BRUCE LEE (http://www.amazon.com/Fists-Bruce-Lee-Leigh/dp/B0009X57QU/sr=1-85/qid=1171034201/ref=sr_1_85/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

THE CHINESE CONNECTION (http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Connection-Lee/dp/B0009X57RY/sr=1-180/qid=1171034476/ref=sr_1_180/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

And finally, there the "you've gotta be kidding me" collection of titles:

FUNERAL HOME (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7001688&style=movie&BAB=E)

EATEN ALIVE (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6992156&style=movie&BAB=M)

SLEEPAWAY CAMP (http://www.amazon.com/Night-Horrors-2pc-2pk/dp/B0009X5850/sr=1-80/qid=1171034127/ref=sr_1_80/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Paging Anchor Bay...

SLEEPAWAY CAMP 2 (http://www.amazon.com/Sleepaway-Camp-2-Unhappy-Campers/dp/B00077BOOC/sr=1-22/qid=1171033485/ref=sr_1_22/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Paging Anchor Bay...

SLEEPAWAY CAMP 3 (http://www.amazon.com/Sleepaway-Camp-3-Teenage-Wasteland/dp/B00077BOOM/sr=1-166/qid=1171034430/ref=sr_1_166/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Pagi...oh, like I have to repeat myself.

MANIAC COP (http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Cop-Thrillers-2/dp/B0009X76EG/sr=1-87/qid=1171034201/ref=sr_1_87/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - Paging Synapse. I should be noted that this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:31LnKp4A1K0J:www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html%3Fdir%3DWilliam%2BLustig+%22maniac+cop+% 22legacy+entertainment%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us) claims its the fullframe version of the movie that was prepared for Japanese television. However, the Synapse version has the Japanese scenes are a bonus feature.

ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE (http://www.amazon.com/Ator-Fighting-Eagle/dp/B0001YSGWY/sr=1-169/qid=1171034476/ref=sr_1_169/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - You can see screenshots from this DVD here. (http://www.gangrenewidescreen.com/Ator.html)

Interestingly enough, other websites list the ATOR DVD as being by Pro-Active (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6807225). This means that Pro-Active is distributing Legacy products.

Contact information:

Legacy Entertainment Inc
369 Glover Road, Unit 1
Stoney Creek, Ontario L8E 6C9
Canada

Phone: 001 (905) 643-2772
Fax: 001 (905) 643-2312

www.legacyentertainment.ca
tinyurl.com/333cqp

And if you remember my profile on the now-defunct Hollywood UK DVD company, both Hollywood and Legacy were shown to be linked to the Air Music and Media Group:

Air Music and Media Sales
Chiltern House
184 High Street
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
HP4 3AT
UK

Phone: +44 (0) 1442 860100
Fax: +44 (0) 1442 860109

www.airmusicandmedia.com
tinyurl.com/2u82o6

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

You're probably familiar with York for their licensed independent movies. However, they also did a line of DVDs called "Laugh Track". DVDs in this line contained both the original movie and a version with a new, supposedly comedic soundtrack. To save money, this line only used movies believed to be in the public domain, like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and THE TERROR. And there also more questionable titles like:

PSYCHOMANIA (http://www.amazon.com/Laugh-Track-Presents-Willie-Brown/dp/B0000CEB4T/sr=1-142/qid=1171153936/ref=sr_1_142/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)
THE CHINESE CONNECTION (http://www.amazon.com/Laugh-Track-Presents-Chinese-Connection/dp/B0000CEB4W/sr=1-228/qid=1171154054/ref=sr_1_228/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd)

The Laugh Track line seems to have gone belly-up, so it looks like York canned the line and decided to focus on indie stuff again.

Interestingly enough, my hunt for information about the company revealed that they had licensed (http://www.afn.org/~afn34967/dominion/interview.html) KUNG FU RASCALS (http://www.amazon.com/Kung-Fu-Rascals-Claypool/dp/B00005N5SR/sr=1-196/qid=1171154018/ref=sr_1_196/105-6409139-8944440?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) (aka THE ADVENTURES OF THE KUNG FU RASCALS), but that the director was not pleased with how they reedited it. However, this DVD is not mentioned on their website, so it looks like they might've lost the license.

It also looks like they did a VHS version of REVENGE OF THE TAI CHI MASTER (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6303184618/imdb-adbox/) but I'm not sure if it was licensed or not.

Contact information:

York Entertainment
4565 Sherman Oaks Ave
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Phone: (818) 788-4050
Fax: (818) 788-4011

www.yorkentertainment.com/pages/aboutus.shtml

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

I'm sure that you're all familiar with Goodtimes, seeing as how they were one of the earlier cheap VHS companies. They released a lot of supposedly public domain material, along with licensed stuff, at low prices, mainly due to the fact that they used LP and EP mode tapes. The poor quality, combined with their infamous "GT" watermark, made them something of a joke amongst consumers. When the DVD format appeared, Goodtimes was quick to jump on it. Just as they had done in their VHS days, they released licensed movies like JAWS: THE REVENGE, ELIVRA'S HAUNTED HILLS, and THE FUNHOUSE (http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/funhouse.php) onto DVD.

And just as in the old days, they also had their fair share of supposedly public domain movies, like:

WASP WOMAN (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=690132&searchID=259287)
THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=49854&searchID=)
TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=37473&searchID=)
THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE
THE KILLER SHREWS

Then there was their questionable release of a British movie called THE CRAWLING EYE, which (accordng to a review on PopMusicPopCulture (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/popmusicpopculture)), used a print titled "THE TOLLENBERG TERROR" and even had the "Certificate X" note on it.

Despite having the American rights to GODZILLA VS. MEGALON (http://tinyurl.com/pka4x) and having licensed KING KONG VS. GODZILLA from Universal, Goodtimes apparently screwed up an released an unlicensed DVD of GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS. That release, along with a boxset including it, had to be recalled (http://www.digitalmonsterisland.com/dino_mania_box.html).

They also released several martial arts titles:

THE CHINESE CONNECTION

FISTS OF FURY

THE YOUNG BRUCE LEE (http://www.stomptokyo.com/badmoviereport/IRO/IRO002-young-bruce-lee.html) - This links to a review with screenshots

BRUCE LEE: A DRAGON STORY

THE LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE

BRUCE LEE THE INVINCIBLE

BRUCE LEE: THE MAN, THE MYTH

BRUCE THE SUPERHERO (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=29360&searchID=)

BRUCE LEE AND KUNG FU MANIA - This is a clip/trailer show, so I don't know if it's "transformative" enough to qualify as being "fair use".

Although several of these movies have shown up in on other cheap DVD labels, some of these show the logo for a company (might've been Best Film and Video Corp or New World Video) at the beginning and/or show the "Ocean Shores" watermark. This means that they're either careless lifts from old VHS tapes or that they're licensed from those companies.

However, Goodtimes has more martial arts titles of extremely questionable legality, which they distribute on the behalf of Sofa Entertainment. All of these movies have new, video-generated title sequences and some of them have a fake stereo soundtrack created by doubling a mono soundtrack (it's poorly done and extremely annoying to listen to on anything except a television without stereo speakers). Most, but not all of, these movies also have new titles (I've included what projectaka.com says are the other titles for those movies as well)

These movies are:

DEADLY KUNG FU LADY (http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Kung-Fu-Lady/dp/B0001KNHDQ/sr=1-1/qid=1171300699/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - aka DEADLY SILVER SPEAR, SHAOLIN'S SILVER SPEAR, and TRUE MASTER.

QUEEN BOXER (http://www.amazon.com/Queen-Boxer-Deadly-Kung-Lady/dp/B0007PAL8Y/sr=1-4/qid=1171300699/ref=sr_1_4/104-4751832-4226356?ie=UTF8&s=dvd) - This movie actually uses the correct title, but suffers from a fake stereo soundtrack. Also worthy of ntoe is the probably unlicensed use of the SHAFT theme song!

A FISTFUL OF YEN (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=589637&tab=5&back=1&anchor=1#topoftabs) - aka RAIDERS OF BUDDHIST KUNG FU. Not only does this DVD black out the movie's opening sequence in favor of newly-made credit screens (You can hear the original audio, though), but they even include a snippet of the original copyright screen for IFD Films and Arts Ltd! I don't know if this was the case in the original movie print, but there are times when scenes from what appears to be an unrelated movie briefly appear and disappear. Also, please note that the cover scan I linked to shows the Goodtimes/Sofa connection.

FOR A FEW MORE YEN THEY KILL = I was unable to find this movie's original title. Like QUEEN BOXER, it has a terrible fake stereo soundtrack.

The above movies were available separate or in two packs. From what I can tell, the following movies were only available together (possibly on a single DVD):

THE TONG FATHER - aka HANDS OF DEATH, (THE) NOTORIOUS BANDIT(S), THE TONGFATHER

REVENGE OF THE LADY WARRIOR - aka 13 EVIL BANDITS, AGAINST DRUNKEN CAT'S PAWS, AGAINST DRUNKEN CAT, FLYING CLAW(S) FIGHTS 14 DEMONS, and NO ONE CAN TOUCH HER

KARATE FRIGHTMARE - aka KUNG FU REBELS, KUNG FU TROUBLEMAKER, and TROUBLE MAKER COMING

KARATE DEATH SQUAD - aka THE KILLER METEORS (owned by Fortune Star)

HONG KONG KARATE HATCHET MEN - aka DUEL OF THE BRAVE ONES, REVENGE OF THE SHADOW KILLERS, and STRUGGLE

THE CHANG GANG - aka ASSUALT OF (THE) FINAL RIVAL and FINAL ASSAULT.

In all fairness, Sofa Entertainment does have the licenses for the Ed Sullivan Show (tinyurl.com/ypxpf6) and musical acts (but not the music itself) that appeared on the show (http://cache.zoominfo.com/cachedpage/?archive_id=0&page_id=572237031&page_url=%2f%2fwww.licensingmedia.com%2fnews%2fhtm l%2f102502-1.html&page_last_updated=7%2f23%2f2004+2%3a59%3a54).

Contact information:

GT Media, Inc.
100 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Phone: (212) 951-3000

Interestingly enough, this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:PloEjqaNgrgJ:goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000019903-page.html+goodtimes+home+video&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us) provides somewhat different contact information:

Goodtimes Home Video Corp.
16 East 40th St.
New York, NY 10016-0113

Phone: (212)951-3000
Fax: (212)481-9067

www.goodtimes.com

My guess is that the website lists their pre-buyout contact information. You see, Goodtimes was bought out by "Quadrangle Captial Partners" in 2003 (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:IUQ_iObjQ-gJ:www.digitalmonsterisland.com/archive_2003.html+goodtimes+%22godzilla+vs.+the+se a+monster%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=22&gl=us). Later, they went bankrupt (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/showthread.php?t=16315) and got bought out by a comapny called "Gaiam" in 2005. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:V6LMjNfMYmkJ:multichannelmerchant.c om/mag/gaiam_acquire_good_0801/+goodtimes+quadrangle&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us)

Gaiam, Inc.
360 Interlocken Blvd.
Broomfield, CO 80021

Phone: 303-222-3600
Fax: 303-222-3700

www.gaiam.com/corporate/crp_Contactus.asp
www.gaiam.com/retail/gai_content/shop/gai_Aboutus.asp
www.gaia.com

Since they don't give it on their website, I had to get Sofa's contact information from this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:GGGrZJ4URXMJ:www.realscreen.com/distributorsguide/2003/pdf/sofa_entertainment.pdf+%22sofa+entertainment%22+di stributor&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us):

Sofa Entertainment
19121 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
USA

Phone: (310) 276-9522
Fax: (310) 276-1238

www.popclick.com
www. sofa4u.com
www.sofaentertainment.com

Their website did list phone numbers for "clip licensing," though:

(631) 477-9700

(310) 276-9522, Ext. 220.

www.sofaentertainment.com/clip_license.php

Contact information for Sofa's sister company, obtained from this website (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:M6T16-QHrg4J:www.kftv.com/company-26220.html+%22andrew+solt+productions%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us) (I can't give the name it contains the name of the company's president):

9121 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90069
USA

Phone: (310) 276-9522
Fax: (310) 276-0242

As you can see, the only difference between those companies' contact information are the phone and fax numbers.

It should be noted that Sofa titles were also distributed by a company called "First Look Entertainment" (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=749521&searchID=). This company also distributed DVDs for Mill Creek Entertainment, (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=692764&searchID=) Slingshot, (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=456253&searchID=) Crash Cinema/Venom Mob, (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=49047&searchID=) and VideoAsia (http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=99365355311443&item_id=747213&searchID=), and was apparently connected (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:8u5ZTxGQWSIJ:www.icv2.com/articles/home/8626.html+%22first+look+entertainment%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us) to the now-defunct Ventura Distribution company (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6327146.html). Also, they might've provided content for Amazon.com's "Unbox" download service. (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:tD08a2V17qkJ:arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060127-6066.html+%22first+look+entertainment%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us). It'd also be a good idea to read this (http://www.venturaripoff.com) and this (http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/forums/archive/index.php?t-20848.html).

According to this document (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:SsQhjbFKwTMJ:sec.edgar-online.com/2006/08/14/0000899681-06-000491/Section102.asp+%22first+look+entertainment%22+vent ura&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us), the contact information for First Look Entertainment is/was:

First Look Entertainment
8000 Sunset Blvd., Suite B310
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Telephone: (323) 337-1024
Fax: (323) 337-1061

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Well, it looks like Media, Movies, and More (aka Cascadia/Disc Plaza/Digital Disc/Digital Multimedia Limited/DDC Labs/Shaolin Cinema) took their site down. Here's a list of what questionable martial arts releases of theirs that I could remember:

THE DEVIL'S SWORD
THE CHINESE CONNECTION
FIRE DRAGON
THE KILLER METEORS
THE SHAOLIN INVINCIBLES
NINJA AMERICAN WARRIOR
NINJA AND THE WARRIORS OF FIRE
NINJA IN THE KILLING FIELDS
ANGRY FIST
IRON KUNG FU
SHAOLIN CHASTITY KUNG FU
SHAOLIN VS. NINJA
SHAOLIN VS. LAMA
THE REVENGER
THE FIGHTING OF SHAOLIN MONKS
THE STORY OF SHAOLIN
FISTS OF GOLDEN MONKEY
8 MASTERS
INVINCIBLE KUNG FU LEGS
DRAGON LEE VS. THE FIVE BROTHERS
THE SECRET OF SHAOLIN POLES
THUNDER RUN
WESTERN PALACE

I'm pretty sure they had more and I know that they carried more of Jackie Chan's Lo Wei stuff. If I can find any more information, I'll note it here.

That being said, I'm going to be take a "working break" of sorts and not update this for a bit. You see, I'm putting together a list of possibly unlicensed titles, DVD companies, and contact information to send to a rightsholder and it's going to take a long time for me to finish. Thankfully, my contacting them will also help me with future entries, so it won't be a big loss. I'll try to post little updates to keep the thread relevant, though.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Thanks to a chance reading of a post on the Midnight Movies Yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Midnight_Movies/), I have discovered the existence of a company called "McCullough Entertainment" that released DVDs of STARCRASH and a Mel Gibson movie called SUMMER CITY (These were sighted at oldies.com). Checking the cover art shown on Amazon.com's page on SUMMER CITY led me to discover that "McCullough Entertainment" is just another name for MacFilmworks. You can see Amazon's list of their releases here. (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d/102-4603946-5553714?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=%22mac+filmworks%22&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go) I feel that the following DVDs are particularly worthy of note:

DEVIL DOG - Media Blasters did a legit release of this already.

MY LUCKY STARS - Fox/Fortune Star did a legit release of this.

[Dion Brother]

Goodtimes actually licensed those Ocean Shores titles for VHS back in the late 1980s for $5.99 LP speed tape versions. Old trailers are not copyrighted so Kung Fu Mania is a perfectly legit release (and a great one).

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Goodtimes actually licensed those Ocean Shores titles for VHS back in the late 1980s for $5.99 LP speed tape versions. Old trailers are not copyrighted so Kung Fu Mania is a perfectly legit release (and a great one).

I recently found a court case (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1059980453492) that seems to say that if a movie is copyrighted, then its trailer is as well, even if a copyright wasn't registered for the trailer.

But, yeah, those Ocean Shores-licensed tapes are part of the reason I'm on the fence about Goodtimes. But if I remember correctly, most of the Ocean Shores titles they used later turned up on DVDs by Tai Seng, which would imply that either Goodtimes is being naughty or Tai Seng got the rights for some and Goodtimes got the rights for others. I'd have to talk to the rightsowner(s) to be 100% sure on the legal status of the Goodtimes DVDs.

[Dion Brother]

I'd question the legality of Tai Seng more than Goodtimes. Seriously.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

I'd question the legality of Tai Seng more than Goodtimes. Seriously.

Do tell...

[Dion Brother]

Google the alt.asian-movies group and search for the details about a GREEN SNAKE laserdisc that hit the market back in the 1990s. Tai Seng is as scummy as it gets.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Google the alt.asian-movies group and search for the details about a GREEN SNAKE laserdisc that hit the market back in the 1990s.

I found some references to Tai Seng doing a poor quality laserdisc of GREEN SNAKE and something that seemed to say that they used a laserdisc as a source for VHS tape (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/51ed1a729a58d8cd/a57d9de727648de7?lnk=gst&q=%22tai+seng%22+bootleg&rnum=15&hl=en#a57d9de727648de7) (and also implied that the release was a bootleg, but they didn't go into any specifics).

However,I did find a post claiming that they imported bootleg VCDs (HITMAN and DEADFUL MELODY), though (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/8ed378851a738355/a8214341aaa99908?lnk=gst&q=%22tai+seng%22+bootleg&rnum=33&hl=en#a8214341aaa99908). There was also a claim that Tai Seng was selling bootlegs of TREASURE HUNT and ORGANIZED CRIME & TRIAD BUREAU (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/c0611c2ddc688244/e8129b593c4c6b79?lnk=gst&q=%22tai+seng%22++Irene+bootleg&rnum=2&hl=en#e8129b593c4c6b79) and it was also claimed that Mei Ah sued Tai Seng over some bootlegs. On the other hand, I also found a post claiming that post was a hoax (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/9be8e5b04a1969fc/b28cbacea9b58293?lnk=gst&q=%22tai+seng%22+laserdisc&rnum=5&hl=en#b28cbacea9b58293) and there were various theories over which post (if not both) was a hoax. Unless I got confirmation or denial from Mei Ah and Golden Cinema about this (Maybe Linn could help us out here?), I'll have to say that this is inconclusive.

I also found a reference to Tai Seng being "in cahoots" with Master Arts video (http://groups.google.com/group/alt.asian-movies/browse_thread/thread/5009927269a055f4/914c7a1b4370e155?lnk=gst&q=%22tai+seng%22+bootleg&rnum=45&hl=en#914c7a1b4370e155). I don't know how strong their connection is, but Tai Seng is definitely selling MA's FIVE DEADLY VENOMS DVD on their website.

But unless I get some solid proof that they've done any bootleg DVDs during the 2000's, I'm afraid that I won't have enough information on them to justify anything other than this post and/or a mention in the Entertainment Programs Inc/Master Arts profile.

Thanks for the tips! If anyone else has any information, please feel free to share!

[SunChien2004]

Well, good luck at it. I don't think you'll ever stop bootlegs completely. To be honest, it's admirable, but not many people care about it, as long as they can see a good movie, that's usually enough.

[Atomic Mystery Monster]

Well, good luck at it. I don't think you'll ever stop bootlegs completely. To be honest, it's admirable, but not many people care about it, as long as they can see a good movie, that's usually enough.

Thanks. Believe me, I'm fully aware that I can't stop bootlegging completely; I'm just trying to keep it from being so widespread by providing information on those clowns in a public forum in the hopes that it can be spread to those with the power to fight it. I'm also aware that people are more concerned with seeing a lot of movies than with doing the right thing. I really wish that people would realize that this hurts the state of getting martial arts movie released in America and the UK in the long run. On the plus side, I've learned a lot of interesting facts while doing this, so that more than makes up for it.

[BBTinSac]

I have a question, which may have been answered somewhere in this thread...

I need to get a release for movies before I run them on a show I'm planning to do on cable. What's the process to getting this done? This is on a public access channel with no commercials. I understand about the public domain movies (they say I don't need anything to run those movies), but what about the ones that have rights? Do I write the distribution company?