History Main / ClumsyCopyrightCensorship

* Not to do with copyright, but clumsy censorship; after the MoralGuardians deemed Carol Ann Duffy's poem Education for Leisure too unsuitable to be taught in UK schools, later versions of the GCSE anthology it was in had its page replaced by a page that was blank but for the words "[[WhatItsaysOnTheTin this page is left intentionally blank]]", in order to preserve the page numbering.

* The accordion music for the original version of ''{{Pingu}} Has Music Lessons From His Grandfather'' was deleted from the re-soundtracked Sprout airings and DVDs because the producers were unable to get a copyright clearance for it. The original version with the censored music were only found on the UK VHS release for ''Building Igloos'' and the {{Cartoon Network}} airing.

* In a quit odd edit, the home release versions of "Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid" changed some of the music from the broadcast version, including removing an instance of the opening theme being used as an insert song in episode 13, replacing it with generic battle music instead.

* ''{{Duckman}}'' received a few music edits on the DVD sets, including removing an entire sequence when "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" played in the episode "Not So Easy Riders". Luckily, none of the FrankZappa tunes were affected by this practice.

* The first series of ''{{Duckman}}'' frequently took snippets of FrankZappa's music as background music. Guess what's missing from the eventual DVD release.
** Actually, while there are music cuts in the first ''Duckman'' DVD set, most (if not all) of the Zappa music remained intact.

** The joke, [[DontExplainTheJoke which refers]] to the preponderance of Wayne-generation novice guitarists who practiced by playing ''Stairway To Heaven'' to the stereo ad nauseum[[http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/no-stairway/]], is lost on the international release version. Still, plenty of VHS copies of the US version are still about.

* In VHS/DVD releases of ''LoveAtFirstBite'', the music playing when Dracula and Cindy dance was changed from the disco hit "I Love The Nightlife" to generic muzak.
* Completely and utterly averted in the classic Billy Wilder film ''One, Two, Three,'', revolving around Jimmy Cagney as a Coca-Cola exec in West Berlin just before the rise of the Wall. [[MommieDearest Joan Crawford]], at the time a major stockholder of Pepsi, was enraged by what she saw as blatant product placement, and demanded that Wilder use Pepsi in the film. He did -- at the very end. Cagney's character puts a nickle (or at least a fuenf-pfennig piece) into a Coke machine... and gets a bottle of Pepsi. He makes a disgusted mugging face at the camera as the movie ends.

* Because of the less visual nature of literature, this is far less common than in other more visual mediums. However, it is not uncommon to see quotes from music or poems show up as epigraphs in one edition of a book but then be missing on the reprints, or, in some cases, showing up in later reprints because the book became a success and so there was enough money to get permission or a license.
* In ''Le Ton beau de Marot'' [a book by Douglas Hofstadter], a passage from ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is replaced by a message from the author complaining that Salinger is too strict about copyright, and that he had to scramble to maintain something the size of the quote to avoid throwing off the typesetting.

* The early releases of the ''NorthernExposure'' [=DVD=]s replaced soundtrack music when rights could not be secured for the songs used in the original broadcasts.

* ''21 Jump Street'' suffers from this - while the licensed music wasn't the WHOLE draw of the show, it was an important part of the atmosphere, and lyrics were often used to communicate plot, which makes chunks of some DVD episodes make very little sense now that they're backed by nothing but elevator music. The [=DVD=]s still sold enough to finish the show, possibly because there don't seem to be many bootlegs in circulation...

** Due to a weird legal grey area in the UK, older WWE events events are allowed to be released in their original uncut format as "Tagged Classics"; this means that the audio and video are both uncut and uncensored, and are presented in their original condition. Unfortunately, these releases are region-locked (and in PAL format), but that can often be worked around...one way or another...

* On Television, throughout the late 1980s and most of the 1990s, the opening theme to ''MarriedWithChildren'' has always been "Love and Marriage" by FrankSinatra. However, on DVD, they changed the song to [[TheJimmyHartVersion something similar, but not the same]], with no lyrics.

* An odd variation: one episode of ''{{Spooks}}'' was temporarily pulled after its preview broadcast because the Apple logos on the back of the spies' computers were clearly visible and advertising ''of any kind'' is not allowed on TheBBC. [[SeriousBusiness People complained]]. In the end it wasn't shown in its primetime slot until they had been airbrushed out.
* The 60s-retro ''CrimeStory'' suffered in syndication when music rights issues replaced mood-setting period music with ersatz tunes.

* The TheyMightBeGiants song "AKA Driver" is a strong example. The original title, "[=NyQuil Driver=]", was blocked legally. TheyMightBeGiants then refused to put the lyrics to the song in the liner notes. It's the only song on that album that doesn't include the lyrics. Excluding covers, it's the only album track on ''any'' of their albums that doesn't include the lyrics.
* A song by British progressive rock band Oceansize was originally titled "Commemorative 9/11 T-shirt" after seeing the very things being sold in New York. After being told that this would not pass censorship, the song was renamed "Commemorative _____ T-shirt".
* The text to CharlesIves's song "Tarrant Moss" was from Kipling. When it was published as #72 of his ''114 Songs'', only the first four words ("I closed and drew") appeared under the vocal line, with a footnote declaring, "Permission to use this verse had not been obtained from Mr. Kipling at the time of going to press." Ives later supplied his own text, which was a veiled TakeThat to William Randolph Hearst.
* The Kabalas ''Wall Martt Polkaa''.

* Originally, the 1989 SegaGenesis game ''The Revenge of Shinobi'' featured doppelgangers of ''{{Rambo}}'', TheTerminator (who turns green à la ''TheIncredibleHulk''), ''{{Godzilla}},'' and ''{{Spider-Man}}'' (who turns into ''{{Batman}}'') as boss villains. None of these were licensed in the slightest. Rereleases of the game gradually replaced the bosses with often bizarre sprites. Its latest release on the ''VirtualConsole'' recolored the Spider-Man boss pink.

* The GBA version of ''Spy Hunter'' omits the ''PeterGunn'' theme altogether, so you play the game with NO music.

[[folder: WebComics]]

* ''PennyArcade'' had a legal run-in with American Greetings over a parody they made of Strawberry Shortcake (and American [=McGee's=] Alice--it imagined the former in the style of the latter). The strip was removed from the archive and replaced with [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/4/14/ a black strip with white text explaining the situation, and giving out the email address of American Greetings' legal counsel]]. This being ''PennyArcade'', they also followed up with a TakeThat titled [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/4/28/ "Read It Before They Take Legal Action"]]. As they also encouraged their fans to forward the original strip to everyone they could, it is [[StreisandEffect exceedingly easy to find the parody online anyway]].

* In the print version of {{Megatokyo}}, anything in the Shirt Guy Dom comics that was taken directly from another source are covered by a censor bar, with notes on top explaining what it was.

-->'''Randal''': "This is just like that (in a different voice) Al Pacino (regular voice) movie!"

-----

* While nowhere near as bad as some of the examples on this page, the two ''{{Daria}}'' movies had all the licensed music replaced when they came out on DVD. It was expected that this would also happen to the series itself after the announcement proclaiming it would finally arrive on DVD in 2010. MTV supposedly respects the show and repeatedly assured the fans that they were going to great lengths to avoid clumsiness. However, after the official release, fans reported that some replacements have proven clumsy anyway, such as an HomageShot to {{REM}}'s "Everybody Hurts" music video in "Road Worrier" lacking boasting irrelevant music on the DVD. Also, practically all of the end credit songs have been replaced with a generic instrumental of the theme song.

* While nowhere near as bad as some of the examples on this page, the two ''{{Daria}}'' movies had all the licensed music replaced when they came out on DVD. It was expected that this would also happen to the series itself after the announcement proclaiming it would finally arrive on DVD in 2010. MTV supposedly respects the show and repeatedly assured the fans that they were going to great lengths to avoid clumsiness. However, after the official release, fans reported that some replacements have proven clumsy anyway, such as an HomageShot to {{REM}}'s "Everybody Hurts" music video in "Road Worrier" lacking the relevant music for the DVD. Also, practically all of the end credit songs have been replaced with a generic instrumental of the theme song.

* While nowhere near as bad as some of the examples on this page, the two ''{{Daria}}'' movies had all the licensed music replaced when they came out on DVD. It was expected that this would also happen to the series itself after the announcement proclaiming it would finally arrive on DVD in 2010, especially since MTV supposedly respects the show and repeatedly said they were going to great lengths to avoid clumsiness. However, after the official release, fans reported that some replacements have proven clumsy anyway, such as an REM ShoutOut in "Road Worrier" lacking the relevant music for the DVD. Also, practically all of the end credit songs have been replaced with a generic instrumental of the theme song. The fans will probably fire up the software, restore the music and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes circulate the files]] anyway.

* A frequent occurrence on {{Mythbusters}} for both copyright and safety reasons. They [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the heck out of this.

* On Television, throughout the late 1980s and most of the 1990s, the opening theme to MarriedWithChildren has always been "Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra. However, on DVD, they changed the song to [[TheJimmyHartVersion something similar, but not the same]], with no lyrics.
* Various episodes of the original DoctorWho have suffered this on DVD, including one notable example of a scene featuring a JimiHendrix track heard on a radio station.... being replaced with a sound-alike instrumental version because TheBBC won't stump up the money to pay for the copyright.
** One of the first scenes of the early ''DoctorWho'' serial "The Chase" has the Doctor and his companions watching footage of The Beatles on the newly-acquired Time-Space Visualizer. The BBC will be releasing this serial on DVD in 2010, but has announced that outside of Region 2, the original footage will be replaced, as the BBC's license to use the footage does not extend outside the UK.

**** [[WallBanger Yup.]] It's the only surviving footage of The Beatles playing on TopOfThePops.
** ''The Evil of the Daleks'' had the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" playing in a bar. On the CD release (the story has been lost, but the soundtrack survives), the whole scene was deleted. (Luckily, it's not crucial; the plot probably still makes sense without it.)

** Actually, while there are music cuts in the first Duckman DVD set, most (if not all) of the Zappa music remained intact.

* When ''PimpMyRide'' moved to SpeedTV, they began muting any mention of MTV - which leaves big holes in the dialogue, since the people tend to draw "MTV" out.
* Same thing for ''MTVCribs'' in syndication, where all the music was replaced with dull atmosphere music and all mentions of MTV were edited out.
* ''The State'' was long thought unreleasable due to its extensive used of licensed music. It eventually ''did'' come out - with all of the music clumsily removed. As this DVD release also shipped with an advertisement for ''{{Daria}}'', a show stuck in DVD limbo for the exact same reason, fans are apprehensive that show will suffer in the same way.

* ITV's ''PoliceCameraAction'' did this to the 1996 episode ''Road to Nowhere'' - end music replaced by generic orchestra music, 2000 episode ''Getting Their Man'' (with Donna Summer's ''Hot Stuff'' replaced by a cover version of Joe Loss's the Stripper). It was never explained why, and fans of the show are dissatisfied with this mutilation of the show by ITV executives. {{ExecutiveMeddling}} at its worst, maybe... and probably {{EditedForSyndication}} without any justification.

* The first four sets of QuantumLeap [=DVDs=] were stripped of all licensed music not explicitly mentioned in dialogue, [[WallBanger even when it left characters dancing the Twist, shouting "TEQUILA!" in unison, and mouthing the words to "Louie Louie" for no apparent reason.]] Worse still, [[TearJerker one of the most powerful scenes]] was ''destroyed'' by the replacement of Ray Charles with listless muzak. After a vociferous outcry, the final season set was spared from any music cuts.

* The text to Charles Ives's song "Tarrant Moss" was from Kipling. When it was published as #72 of his ''114 Songs'', only the first four words ("I closed and drew") appeared under the vocal line, with a footnote declaring, "Permission to use this verse had not been obtained from Mr. Kipling at the time of going to press." Ives later supplied his own text, which was a veiled TakeThat to William Randolph Hearst.

* "Farewell to John Denver" (a very brief parody of "Annie's Song") was removed from ''MontyPython's Contractual Obligation Album'' and replaced with Terry Jones saying that the item had been omitted for legal reasons.
** [[TooSoon Depending on when exactly this happened]], one might argue that the deletion of a song/sketch featuring [[spoiler: Denver being strangled to death at the end]] [[YourMileageMayVary is not a bad thing]]...

* The GBA version of ''Spy Hunter'' omits the Peter Gunn theme altogether, so you play the game with NO music.

* In the DVD releases of the ''AngryVideoGameNerd'' episodes, the licensed material is removed with the purpose of not being sued by the rights of the original material. By that, for example, ''TheWizard'' review had to be removed from the SuperMarioBros3 + The Wizard review. In the Rocky episode, the licensed music had to be removed and replaced with a [[TheJimmyHartVersion Jimmy Hart]] version of ''Gonna Fly Now'', plus the instance of the appearance of clips from the Rocky movies also had to be removed, between others.

** A particular WallBanger involves an episode of ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' with Milli Vanilli as guest stars. Their, erm, "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli#Media_backlash performance]]" in the episode is dubbed over... with an instrumental piece. The original version of the episode has never been seen since its original airdate, so its obviously not on DVD either.
* While nowhere near as bad as some of the examples on this page, the two ''{{Daria}}'' movies had all the licensed music replaced when they came out on DVD. It was expected that this would also happen to the series itself after the announcement proclaiming it would finally arrive on DVD in 2010, especially since MTV respects the show and repeatedly said they were going to great lengths to avoid clumsiness. However, after the official release, fans reported that some replacements have proven clumsy anyway, such as an REM ShoutOut in "Road Worrier" lacking the relevant music for the DVD. Also, practically all of the end credit songs have been replaced with a generic instrumental of the theme song. The fans will probably fire up the software, restore the music and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes circulate the files]] anyway.

* This has even happened to {{Animutation}}s. That infamous Peter Pan cosplayer that shows up in some of them has actually filed DMCA complaints about unauthorized use of his picture, and thus [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvfkvw-luGU the YouTube version]] of Dwedit's "[=JamezBond=]" replaces his picture with a silhouette filled with text [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the situation.

* ''CodeGeass'' was sponsored by Pizza Hut in Japan. All the logos had to be cut out for the American release.

** The joke, [[DontExplainTheJoke which refers]] to the preponderance of Wayne-generation amateur guitarists who practiced by playing ''Stairway To Heaven'' to the stereo ad nauseum, is lost on the international release version. Still, plenty of VHS copies of the US version are still about.

* A lampshade-hanging example: Game designer James Ernest developed a game in which players are {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s competing to construct the most stylish act of BondVillainStupidity. It was originally released under the title ''Before I Kill You, Mister Bond.'' There was a lawsuit over the use of Bond's name, so the current edition is titled ''James Ernest's Totally Renamed Spy Game''.

** ''The Evil of the Daleks'' had the Beatles' "Paperback Rider" playing in a bar. On the CD release (the story has been lost, but the soundtrack survives), the whole scene was deleted. (Luckily, it's not crucial; the plot probably still makes sense without it.)

* While nowhere near as bad as some of the examples on this page, the two ''{{Daria}}'' movies had all the licensed music replaced when they came out on DVD. It's expected that this will also happen to the series itself when it finally arrives on DVD in 2010.
** MTV respects the show and have repeatedly said they're going to great lengths to avoid clumsiness, however after the official release the fans will fire up the software, restore the music and [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes circulate the files]] anyway.
** Most fans seem to believe some replacements have proven clumsy, such as an REM ShoutOut in "Road Warrior" lacking the proper music for the DVD. Also, practically all of the end credit songs have been replaced with a generic instrumental of the theme song.

* ''DoctorSlump'', or at least what little of it was actually released in the US, had numerous panels featuring Ultraman or Ultra Seven hastily re-touched to disguise just who the characters really were. Oddly enough, the Penguin Village cop who perpetually wears the [[StarWars Stormtrooper helmet, and the panel of Senbei and Arale dressed as C-3PO and R2-D2]], the [[TaxiDriver panel of Senbei dressed as Travis Bickle,]] and the [[StarTrek chapter with the very obvious story-long parody of Spock]] ''and'' [[{{Superman}} the entire supporting character of "Suppaman"]] were left untouched.

* ''DoctorSlump'', or at least what little of it was actually released in the US, had numerous panels featuring Ultraman or Ultra Seven hastily re-touched to disguise just who the characters really were. Oddly enough, the Penguin Village cop who perpetually wears the [[StarWars Stormtrooper helmet, and the panel of Senbei and Arale dressed as C-3PO and R2-D2]], as well as the [[StarTrek chapter with the very obvious story-long parody of Spock]] ''and'' [[{{Superman}} the entire supporting character of "Suppaman"]] were left untouched.

* [[LupinIII Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo]] had, in its original theatrical release, a short shot of Lupin hanging out with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other DC superheroes. For obvious reasons, this would have been [[{{Understatement}} slightly unacceptible]] to Time-Warner once the movie was released here in the US by Geneon, and so it was cut, even though it caused a noticible break in a scene.
** In the same way, numerous real-world logos were digitally removed from the US release of the Lupin III TV series.

* You know, 95% of anime that has pocky in it.
* The Japanese audio track on the US release of ''KodomoNoOmocha'' simply cuts out at one point in the first episode because the record label for the band Tokio wouldn't allow their music to be used.

* In ''{{Grease}}'', there's a scene that takes place in a diner with a giant Coca-Cola sign in the background. Or, rather, a giant blur that was supposed to be a Coca-Cola sign before Pepsi, one of the film's chief sposors, protested the ProductPlacement.

* On Television, throughout the late 1980s and most of the 1990s, the opening theme to MarriedWithChildren has always been "Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra. However, on DVD, they changed the song to [[TheJimmyHartVersion something similar, but not the same]], with no lyrics. (The Frank Sinatra theme was better.)
* Various episodes of the original DoctorWho have suffered this on DVD, including one notable example of a scene featuring a JimiHendrix track heard on a radio station.... being replaced with a soundalike instrumental version because TheBBC won't stump up the money to pay for the copyright.

* Many fans were worried that the 2010 reairing of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' would change the music for this reason, particularly the iconic theme song, which Disney hadn't gotten the rights to for Adam's reappearance in ''PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', using generic rock for his theme when all the other reappearing Rangers got their own shows' theme songs. Thankfully, it turned out that Disney was actually contractually obligated to keep all the original music in the rereleases, so this was averted in the end.

* ''PennyArcade'' had a legal run-in with American Greetings over a parody they made of Strawberry Shortcake (and American [=McGee's=] Alice--it imagined the former in the style of the latter). The strip was removed from the archive and replaced with [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/4/14/ a black strip with white text explaining the situation, and giving out the email address of American Greetings's legal counsel]]. This being ''PennyArcade'', they also followed up with a TakeThat titled [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/4/28/ "Read It Before They Take Legal Action"]]. As they also encouraged their fans to forward the original strip to everyone they could, it is [[StreisandEffect exceedingly easy to find the parody online anyway]].

* In the print version of {{Megatokyo}}, anything in the Shirt Guy Dom comics that was teken directly from another source are coverd by a censor bar, with notes on top explaining what it was/ jokes.

** A particular WallBanger involves an episode of ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' with Milli Vanilli as guest stars. Their, erm, "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milli_Vanilli#Media_backlash performance]]" in the episode is dubbed over...with an instrumental piece. The original version of the episode has never been seen since it's original airdate, so its obviously not on DVD either.