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A fan edit is a version of a film modified by a viewer, that removes, reorders, or adds material in order to create a new interpretation of the source material. This includes the removal of scenes or dialogue, replacement of audio and/or visual elements, and adding material from sources such as deleted scenes or even other films.^[1]

The trend became popular after an individual calling himself the "Phantom Editor" (later revealed as professional editor Mike J. Nichols) removed elements from George Lucas' Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace that he felt detracted from the film, and made minor changes in dialogue, languages and subtitles to give the film's villains a more menacing tone.^[1] The end result became known as The Phantom Edit, which achieved fame through distribution on VHS, DVD, and other media.

While fan editors initially focused on the Star Wars prequels, the trend spread to the original trilogy after their release on DVD, both because of higher quality source material, and due to further changes by Lucas to the films in 1997 and 2004. Many of the fan edits aimed to preserve the pre-"Special Edition" films or to correct perceived story flaws. Recently, fan editors have begun editing non-Star Wars films in the same fashion, such as the Matrix series, Pearl Harbor, Dune, Superman II, and others.^[2] In addition to re-editing films, some fan edits feature basic corrections, such as colors or framing, that maintain or restore consistency within the film.

Before the term "fan edit" was coined, many "alternate versions" of films edited by other fans or professional editors where simply known as a "Cut". In the late 1970s, many alternate "cuts" of films were released in the United States, and foreign films (such as those from Europe or Japan) deemed unsuitable for American audiences under went further alterations, score changes and re-titlings. It is believed by some^[who?] that these are the first true "fan edits", and such editing accord with foreign properties from the late 1970s through current times, usually along with the translation process of said properties (such as Japanese Anime and dubs of foreign movies and properties across the world).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Fair use issues

While fan edits skirt the lines of fair use, their creators emphasize the use of the final product should only be for those who own the source material (often commercial DVDs), and are not to be distributed for profit or other personal gain. Lucasfilm is aware of the existence of Star Wars fan edits, and has stated they will take action when they believe copyright infringement has taken place.^[3]

In July 2007, Lucasfilm took action against fan editor "daveytod" after taking issue with his fan edit documentary, The Clones Revealed.^{[citation needed]} It is unclear exactly why Lucasfilm took this action against "daveytod". Their email to him cited the possibility of 'consumer confusion', that The Clones Revealed might be mistaken for an official Lucasfilm product. The email was sent to several active members of the fan editing community and resulted in the short down time of FanEdit.org until it was made clear which film was being cited with a cease and desist. The reasoning given by Lucasfilm's anti-piracy team during communications with fanedit.org moderators seemed to display the mistaken impression that 'The Clones Revealed' was an Episode II bootleg.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2008, fanedit.org was briefly closed after receiving a complaint from the MPAA regarding the use of links to its copyrights appearing on the site. ^{[4] [5]} After a three day downtime, the website reopened without any links to potentially infringing files.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Fanedit.org – A site for fan edit information on a wide variety of films.
• Fanedits.com – A wiki-style site dedicated to fan edits and other fan projects
• OriginalTrilogy.com - Fan Edits, Preservation Efforts, and Other Fan Projects
• Foster on Film - Fan Edits