by Playfuls Staff |
22nd January 2007
Sony declared recently that it will not provide any help to the adult film industry for their movies on its proprietary Blu-ray disc format, but it will not try to stop them completely.[more]
The Japanese electronics behemoth will not permit its disc replicating subsidiary, Sony DADC, to handle adult film titles, it said last week. It appears that in markets where Sony has operations around the world it won't duplicate any movies above a certain rating or that have not been certified by a local motion picture association.
This brings to memory the famous and largely disputed Betamax vs. VHS videotape war from the ’80, a colossal failure for Sony caused (according to some analysts) by its refusal to license Betamax to porn industry.
Videotape first emerged as a cheap and efficient alternative to film (later kinescope) for TV production. Its development for home use owes its birth to Sony and Betamax but its maturity to porn. Predicting that the greatest use of home VCRs would be time-shifting, that is, recording TV shows off the air for later viewing, Sony designed Betamax tape with a one hour playing time. When the market for videotape proved not to be time shifting, but prerecorded movies instead, longer-playing tape was demanded, and VHS arose to meet the demand. Though Beta eventually went to a four hour format, it was too late. Within years, two-, four-, and six-hour VHS tape became the industry standard.
What were people watching on these early videotapes? The early home video rental stores, the outlets that drove Betamax from the market, were almost exclusively pornographic, drawing on the same clientele as early nickelodeons. The same was true of home video sales. It was not until the mid-1980s that first, local video rental stores, and next, national chains like Blockbuster entered the field with videos for the massmarket. By then, porn had shown the way. Thus, the victory of VHS over Betamax, and the triumph of video rental and purchase over time-shifting, is a rare example of pornography specifically adopting a product and a method of retailing that drove its competitor from the market.
(entire article
here)Sony wouldn't disclose exactly where it draws the line concerning the adult rating, but the rule means that adult movie makers will have to find someone else to reproduce their films in bulk. While other companies offer such services, the adult industry feels it is being cut out of the Blu-ray camp altogether.
Concerning the choice for high-definition disc format to use was "kind of made for us, so everything we are replicating right now is in the HD DVD format," said Robby D, a director at popular adult film maker Digital Playground Inc. "As far as I understand, Sony has said to the replicators that if you replicate adult, you'll lose your license."
Sony's decision to stay away from pornography could have wide implications for Blu-ray Disc. Not only could some companies backing Sony's format will miss out on a lucrative market, but analysts say it could eventually mean that Blu-ray loses out to HD DVD in the battle to become the next-generation DVD format.
Many believe that Sony's Betamax video tape format, while technologically superior to VHS, died because the adult movie industry was barred from using Betamax, noted Jake Richter, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research. "Is Sony doomed to repeat one of the mistakes of the past? It seems like that may be the case," he wrote in a report.
Several adult film companies said the issue is not just gaining access to the "replicators" that reproduce their movies in bulk, but that they also can't get help with technical issues from the companies backing Blu-ray Disc.
"Nobody comes out and says 'No, we won't work with adult.' But Blu-ray just offers no help," said Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production at Wicked Pictures, another popular adult movie company.
The Blu-ray Disc Association, which oversees the licensing of the technology, says it has not banned anyone from using the format. "We look forward to working with any content providers interested in providing their audience with the best possible high definition home entertainment experience," the group said in a statement.
One major adult film company, Vivid Video, plans to release a sequel to the classic "Debbie Does Dallas" in both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD this spring, its first-ever high definition video offering. A spokesman for the company, Shylar Cobi, declined to comment on how Vivid would gain access to stampers, but said he does not expect it to be a problem.
Still, several other adult film companies interviewed said the industry as a whole plans to use HD DVD, because of the problems of working with Blu-ray Disc. Wicked Pictures chose HD DVD for the first ever high-definition adult film released this month at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. Several other companies plan to release high definition movies this year, including Digital Playground, which is releasing its first HD DVD title this week.
"Sony is really protective of proprietary information and proprietary products, especially when it comes to the adult market. Sony is always a little more stand-offish and hands-away from it," said Jay Grdina, president of ClubJenna Inc.
