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FEDERAL ATTORNEY GENERAL CLAMPS DOWN ON GLBTI DVD’S

For six years, OUTvideo has specialised in selling and renting a diverse range of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Intersex (GLBTI) titles otherwise unavailable in Australia.

Last week, we were contacted by the Federal Attorney-General’s Office in regard to our distributing material which has not been classified in Australia. We have been instructed by them to remove from sale and rental all unclassified material and we are currently in the process of complying with this order.

Unfortunately, many GLBTI titles never enjoy either a cinematic or DVD release in Australia. Moreover, films classified for theatrical release, must be reclassified for DVD release because DVDs include extra features. Classification is prohibitively expensive for titles for which we may only ever sell and/or rent a handful of copies. Unclassified material constitutes up to two thirds of OUTvideo’s range and customers will notice a drastic reduction in the titles we have available as a result of this action.

This is a substantial financial blow to OUTvideo which is owned and operated by members of our community and contributes generously to community organisations. As OUTvideo sells and rents online throughout Australia, it also represents a dramatic restriction on GLBTI Australians access to visual material representing their unique experience and point of view.

Responses to the news by customers has included the following:
• David – “I was really looking forward to catching up on all the gay themed DVDs… that simply never made it to screen in oz or indeed Darwin”
• Alex – “Where is the freedom of choice for adults over 21?”
• Mark – “This is outrageous anti Australian business discrimination since all the titles are readily available from international websites as personal imports (but at higher cost including postage of course)”

OUTvideo is exploring options including an exemption from the relevant laws on the basis that GLBTI Australians constitute a minority sub-community similar to ethnic/cultural groups. Specialist distributors to these groups also supply unclassified material and import foreign language titles which, like many GLBTI titles, would never be viable local releases. We will keep our customers informed of our progress.

OUTvideo DOES NOT engage in parallel importing and will ALWAYS source local release versions of DVDs where they are available.

The owners and staff of OUTvideo wish to thank all of our customers for their loyalty and patience and assure them that we will continue to do our best to provide the broadest range possible.