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[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by Bigsby

Absolute crap, you don't have to pay any duty on anything from you import from within the EU anyway, and anything from outside the EU is OK up to £18.

Most people import from the US (given that Europe is Region 2 like us and has very similar licensing laws) and a lot of things are over £18. Please remember it's only relatively recently that DVD has become as cheap as it is and Blu Ray (under the current exchange rate) is usually over £18.

I'm not saying it's right but it is a massive grey area.

I'm sure you understand the differences between film classification in the UK and US, i'm assuming you're not stupid.

You also have to take into consideration film release dates. Whilst not as much of a problem as it used to be (something that has only changed within the past 2 years) it does present a problem for film-makers and film companies. For example, I had Donnie Darko on DVD 6 months before it came out at the cinema in this country.

Whether you're don't understand or you're just being a cock, i dunno, but it's not just as black and white as you seem to think it is.

[Bigsby]

I'm not being a cock, I'm just challenging something which you are claiming to be fact which I consider to be untrue. I have asked you to provide evidence of the "laws" which you claim are being broken when a DVD is imported and you have failed to do so.

The certification process is irrelevant. Anything which is sold in this country must be certified by the BBFC. If I import a DVD from, say, amazon.com in the US it is not being sold in this country. If it contains obscene material then it could possibly be illegal under the Obscene Publications Act, but that's got fuck all to do with film classification.

The revenue matters are absolutely clear cut - the company I buy it from must declare the value. Every parcel coming from outside the UK goes through customs. If it's under £18 it comes straight to me, if it's over £18 the courier company will pay the customs charge then bill me accordingly on delivery.

Release dates are indeed one of the reasons the film companies want regional coding, but that's got fuck all to do with the law.

You can only keep saying "It's a grey area" so many times before you get called on it and need to provide some facts to back up your argument, but I can assure you that I have imported dozens of DVDs from the US, Canada and Europe over the years and never once have I broken the law.

[Bigsby]

BBFC, are they being "cocks" too?

British Board of Film Classification FAQ - Can we bring back videos from abroad that are not currently classified?

[Lucky Rathen]

So, what was the last film you watched?

[Bigsby]

Originally Posted by Lucky Rathen

So, what was the last film you watched?

I'm glad you asked.

The Driver, the other night on ITV 4, starring Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern. I'd never heard of it before so was surprised when Walter Hill's name popped up as the director.

O'Neal stars as an ace getaway driver, Dern a cop willing to bend the rules to catch him.

Lots of good car chases. Dern was good but O'Neal pretty boring playing the strong silent type. I couldn't help thinking Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood would have done a much better job.

Fun film though, I love american 70s films.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by Bigsby

I'm not being a cock, I'm just challenging something which you are claiming to be fact which I consider to be untrue. I have asked you to provide evidence of the "laws" which you claim are being broken when a DVD is imported and you have failed to do so.

The certification process is irrelevant. Anything which is sold in this country must be certified by the BBFC. If I import a DVD from, say, amazon.com in the US it is not being sold in this country. If it contains obscene material then it could possibly be illegal under the Obscene Publications Act, but that's got fuck all to do with film classification.

The revenue matters are absolutely clear cut - the company I buy it from must declare the value. Every parcel coming from outside the UK goes through customs. If it's under £18 it comes straight to me, if it's over £18 the courier company will pay the customs charge then bill me accordingly on delivery.

Release dates are indeed one of the reasons the film companies want regional coding, but that's got fuck all to do with the law.

You can only keep saying "It's a grey area" so many times before you get called on it and need to provide some facts to back up your argument, but I can assure you that I have imported dozens of DVDs from the US, Canada and Europe over the years and never once have I broken the law.

Strangely enough, this is the first post where you've asked for me to provide you with evidence. All your others have been 1 or 2 sentence posts not mentioning that.

HMCE have the power to search all mail and confiscate anything that they deem offensive (including all incoming items without BBFC classification) without question. The fact that they don't do that 99.9% of the time doesn't mean that won't.

From the BBFC FAQs:

"As the Act requires the certificate to be displayed on the packaging and media labels of the video recording, in practice only UK releases can be legally sold or hired in the UK, even if a foreign release has identical content"

The majority of people in the UK buy imports from UK based sites and technically speaking if you have paid for something using a UK credit/debit card whilst residing in the UK the items were bought in the UK and are subject to UK law so that's by the by.

The majority of Adult rated films these days could, if questioned, fall under the Obscene Publications act if they have not been classified by the BBFC. However, in practice that doesn't mean it's upheld all the time. Reanimator is another example of a title being seized regularly after it's VHS release on mail spot checks under the Obscene Publications act. It is also illegal to send obscene (yet again anything that hasn't been classified by the BBFC containing adult material) through the Royal Mail and both recipient and sender under UK law can (though very rarely) be charged on that basis.

A lot of distributors are also breaching copyright laws by allowing the import and export of titles across regions as very often films are distributed by different companies in different territories. This also affects release dates, so yes, it does have something to do with a law (Copyright Law).

I'm not saying i agree with it, and it is almost impossible to police but that's the way it is. I've never had any problems importing either.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by Bigsby

BBFC, are they being "cocks" too?

British Board of Film Classification FAQ - Can we bring back videos from abroad that are not currently classified?

There are a number of glaringly obvious exemptions in there that if you are too stupid to read into i'm not even going to bother.

[Lucky Rathen]

Originally Posted by Bigsby

I'm glad you asked.

The Driver, the other night on ITV 4, starring Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern. I'd never heard of it before so was surprised when Walter Hill's name popped up as the director.

O'Neal stars as an ace getaway driver, Dern a cop willing to bend the rules to catch him.

Lots of good car chases. Dern was good but O'Neal pretty boring playing the strong silent type. I couldn't help thinking Steve McQueen or Clint Eastwood would have done a much better job.

Fun film though, I love american 70s films.

That sounds vaguely familiar actually. I think I might have seen that. 70s road movies are the shiz. Like Convoy. That film fucking rules.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by Lucky Rathen

So, what was the last film you watched?

Public Enemies. It was good though the dialogue problems and the switching between 24p and 30p for fast motion shots were very annoying.

Good cast though and the most realistic gunfire i've ever heard on film soundtracks. Well worth going to see.

[RockAustin]

I watched Yes Man last night and enjoyed it a lot. Good concept, I was told it's based on a five live thing where a guy said yes to everything for a year and wrote a book about it. Hollywoodised obviously, but I do like a feel good movie.

Zooey Deschanel is a fox.