For those who missed out, this site was served with a cease and desist order by Miramax Films last Monday, Dec. 8th. As webmaster and owner, I was ordered to stop "exploiting" Hero, the 2002 Jet Li film that Miramax bought rights to and plans to release this year. (For details, visit our related editorial.) One week later, the mainstream media is paying heed to this issue as it not only impacts the rights of web sites, but consumers. (See Wired.com article.) While Miramax and I have effectively resolved our differences in regards to the notice, there remains the issue of how the company wishes to interact with a small, but dedicated fan community who value their ability to purchase imports versions of films that are held indefinitely by Miramax or released in an edited format.

Despite my request and in contrast to a verbal declaration by a representative of the company, Miramax has not come forth with any written statement declaring that an individual purchasing a single import version of Hero for personal use is in violation of of their copyrights. Furthermore, it has not been established that linking to a seller outside North America that sells import versions without profiting is unlawful either.

What is certain is that this site will not be profiting off of any import sales of films owned by Miramax (so long as we know what they own). Another certainty is that when Miramax does decide to release Hero (scheduled for April 16th), Shaolin Soccer, or any of their other foreign martial arts film properties, Kung Fu Cinema will fully support their release. Why? Its all about the films and getting them to the masses. If that means they're dubbed into English, cut by twenty minutes, or feature Bette Midler singing "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting," then so be it. Once audiences are turned on to the good parts that remain, they can then look for the import and see the film as it was meant to be seen.

Now if Miramax were smart they would release the original version on DVD. Imports would become a non-issue and that would put an end to this whole conversation.