DVD/video subtitles

Dabber · Post by **Dabber** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 10:48 am

Does anyone have any experience of the legal necessity of adding subtitles to DVDs/videos? I am referring to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995! (Sorry to be so heavy).
It has been suggested that any DVDs/videos shown in a public building have to have subtitles or may be breaking the law.
That is one thing, but I am wondering if a DVD/video I plan to make for sale (all proceeds for charity) must have subtitles? Or can I just not add them and lose sales from hearing impaired people.
I understand that there are firms that will add subtitles (on a separate disc layer) - but my attempts to add them with Video Studio (only a trial version so far!) leave them visible. Single layer. Clearly I need to move on to dual layer work!
Any thoughts?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:32 pm

This is along the same lines of a situation I have grappled with - royalty-free vs. commercial music. The concensus seems to be (from VideoStudio, MediaStudio, and other boards) that if you are going to mass produce this video then you may want to follow the letter of the law. But if this is just a small project that will be sold, more or less, locally then you can probably get away with it. Now when I say "get away with it" I don't mean breaking the law (although some people will argue that is what you are doing), but that your video's impact on the market is so minute that it doesn't really matter.

Food for thought.

Dabber · Post by **Dabber** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:18 pm

What I cannot find out is whether DVDs and videos must have subtitles. Can anyone really complain?
I mean, I want hearing impaired people to have the pleasure of viewing my videos, but if the cost is going to be prohibitive the venture may become not viable and then nobody will get to see it!
And if I just added subtitles on a single-layer disc so that everyone had to see them, am I being unfair to hearing people?
Yes, I could have two versions on a DVD with a menu, but the duplications costs would go up.
There may be no answer from a video-maker's point of view.

Oh, and if you want some excellent royalty-free music (you have to buy the CDs, of course) take a look at the NVM Digital website (http://www.nvmdigital.com) in the UK. You can have unrestricted use - even when selling anything the music is used on.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:14 pm

Dabber wrote:What I cannot find out is whether DVDs and videos must have subtitles. Can anyone really complain?

That's the question you must answer in your own mind. Will anyone complain and if so, how many. And if some do, what is it worth to you to go the "extra mile".

Dabber · Post by **Dabber** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:22 pm

One lost sale against the (unknown) cost of adding subtitles? Tricky. Perhaps the answer is to wait for someone to ask if we have a subtitled version and then get some produced to order in the hope of more sales to follow - or the next time we re-order "ordinary" copies.
That's quite different than any legal obligation, of course.
With the last video we did, no-one requested an NSTC (is that right?) version!

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:48 pm

understand that there are firms that will add subtitles (on a separate disc layer) - but my attempts to add them with Video Studio (only a trial version so far!) leave them visible. Single layer. Clearly I need to move on to dual layer work! Any thoughts?

Ulead DVD Workshop can make real subtitles that you can turn on and off with the menu or with your remote button.

What I cannot find out is whether DVDs and videos must have subtitles. Can anyone really complain?

I know somebody who is a sign language interpreter here in the USA. It might take a couple of days, but I’ll see knows anything about it.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:07 pm

A complete copy of the Act can be found here:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/1995050.htm

It is beyond the scope of this User forum to offer any interpretation of an Act of Parliament or Statute. The Courts - both Civil and Criminal spend many months debating the meaning and interpretation of these documents.

Despite the best efforts of Members of Parliament drafting out legislation there will always be a High Flying Barrister who is willing to challenge the wording of something to make it sound entirely different to what was intended by Her Majesties Government.

editfan · Post by **editfan** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:21 pm

A subtitle feature in VideoStudio would be nice. I have hearing impaired family members. However no doubt ulead would argue, the demand is just not there.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 1:22 am

The proper answer is to use DVD Workshop 2.

The workround - if your video isn't too big is to have two copies on your DVD Menu, one with and one without the subtitles.

editfan · Post by **editfan** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:11 am

I use DVD WS2.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:45 am

editfan wrote:I use DVD WS2.

But you've posted this in the VideoStudio Forum and .....

editfan wrote:A subtitle feature in VideoStudio would be nice. I have hearing impaired family members. However no doubt ulead would argue, the demand is just not there.

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