I found this on AfriTainment.com. They've even got a picture -- Amazon, Best Buy and the gang don't even have that! I've ordered from this site before -- good service.

https://www1907.dulles19-...e_id=10982

If the link doesn't work, try http://www.afritainment.com and search "Prince" as an actor.

The image that they show on AfriTainment.com is simply a "squashed" version of a scan of the VHS cover. This is NOT an image of the DVD. IF you want to see the cover of the DVD that everyone has their panties in a bunch about, go to eBay...it's the Brazilian edition of questionable origin. If this was getting a legit release on DVD we'd be hearing about it from legit information sources - not retailers.

I've ordered a copy, so we'll soon know if it's the real deal. However, I don't think non-standard releases would be in major distribution channels. (i.e. Amazon, Best Buy, Tower Records)

Thing is, though, it's not a non-standard release. This is Sign O The Times - a Prince film with video rights controlled by MCA/Universal. This property would not be handed over to "Phantom Sound & Vision" (who deals in imports) to handle. It's not "the real deal" - it's a gray-market foriegn release. Keep in mind that this hasn't actually shown up as available in any major distribution channels, they just list it, all with differing release dates. My guess is that, IF any major vendor actually ever gets it, they'll drop it like a hot potato when they discover just what they've got.

Borders bookstores are notorious for getting in sort of grey market "region 0" music DVDs from time to time. Needless to say, they don't maintain stock on them when they realize what they have.

kdavis said:

Actually, that may or may not be true. My guess is that it was just a distribution deal, and that Prince owns the rights now. It was released theatrically by Cineplex Odeon films, who has no direct ties to Universal. We'd need more information.

Also, it is possible that the Brazilian release is legit, as in they have the right to sell within their own country. I HIGHLY doubt however that they have the right to sell the film outside of their own country--and it's also questionable whether they have DVD rights also.

I have the Brazilian DVD and I will just say thank God I have had the Japanses laserdisc for some years. THe quality is disppointing for a DVD. I am irritated by the fact that they dont even have a conver photo from the right era. The pic is obviously from the 1999 tour; not the SOTT tour. THey throw in a pic gallery but overall it is not up to the standard of a US DVD release. I have over 100 DVDs so I know what I am talking about.

MIAMIVICE said:

It's obvious from the cover of this bootleg-looking Brasilian release that you're better off sticking with your original VHS copy or waiting for a proper DVD release from elsewhere.

MIAMIVICE said:

I know this has been discussed before, but is your DVD copy at least better than the VHS copy? Meaning, whoever recorded it onto DVD, did they remove any of the hiss or raise the sound level at all?

It's on towerrecords.com

It's clearly from a film print, not a VHS source. The problem is that the people that did it were quite incompetent. It's encoded VERY dark, so either you can't see anything, or you turn up the contrast WAY up on your TV and see the MPEG2 artifacts that normally would be hidden.

It could have been a pretty nice disc...
[This message was edited Mon Feb 10 20:04:25 PST 2003 by Electric2k]

I have the Brazilian version as well. Like I said before it SUCKS! The VHS sounds much better, especially in Pro Logic Surround. The DVD is in 5.1, but it's mono??? I was pretty pissed off when I got it. I hope this one is remastered into 5.1 DD or DTS!

Peace

kdavis said:

yeah, right. 'cuz NPGMC always make sure we are the FIRST to know about Prince releated news...zzz

NME said:

Now, now, I said legit sources - I didn't say NPGMC, did I? There are trade journals that document pending releases, MAJOR distributors (Ingram, etc.) and, of course, production studio press releases. When SOTT is about to be released legitimately, we'll surely hear about it. In the meantime, hang onto your LDs!

BTW - I hope, when this really DOES come out on DVD, whoever is responsible makes sure that it is released widescreen. I love the composition of the short form video of ICNTTPOYM (which is widescreen) and it's always been disappointing to me that the full-length film has only been on video in fullscreen.

kdavis said:

Amen to that! I'll wait for a legit release, and pray for widescreen! Fuck pan-and-scan! Fuck it in its stupid ass!

kdavis said:

Now, now, I said legit sources - I didn't say NPGMC, did I? [/quote]

True. i take it back. i just thought he may have had to give permission, but i guess not.

Universal owns the rights and you would have to petition Universal for official release.

salaciousV said:

Did you read any of the above posts? Universal only put it out on home video. Who exactly owns the rights is not certain.

Electric2k said:

Universal didn't "only" put it out on home video - they currently hold the home video rights to the SOTT film (check it - the VHS is still in print with them). The Copyright on the film is, I believe, owned by "Purple Films" but the U.S. home video rights have been controlled by Universal for years. Who knows what the terms of the video rights agreement is but, for now, Universal has the say in when and how SOTT will be released on home video - not Prince. Universal would be the appropriate entity to petition, but studios don't really pay any attention to petitions anymore, now that DVD has become such a mass market business.

I called Universal a few months ago to find out who owns the rights. I spoke to a VP in Distribution. He said that he thinks Prince regained the rights to the film, and whether it gets re-released or not is completely in Prince's hands (which bodes ill for us!) Prince may have had a contract with Universal which gave them distribution rights for a certain amount of years, after which the rights revert back to him.

The Brazillian DVD might be subject to a different distribution contract... films often have one distributor for "domestic" (US) release, and another distributor for "foreign" (non-US) release. Maybe the Brazillians still have the rights, but nobody has the US rights?

The VP also told me that he'd spoken recently with Prince about Universal being a distributor for a future music release. Then a month or so later, the ONE NITE ALONE box set was announced... to me, this proved that the Universal guy was in the know.

Certainly, video distribution rights can be sold to different companies, covering different parts of the world. I don't think that anyone could argue, though, that the Brazilian release is officially sanctioned, given its (lack of) quality.

Regarding the rights - As I said earlier, SOTT is still an in print and available catalog title on Universal. Prince has always (as far as I know) had the "rights" - the copyright to the content - to the film (Purple Films) but, at some point, he granted the video distribution rights to Universal, authorizing them to put it out on video.

If Prince HAS regained the video rights (as your VP seems to think) that means that Universal is, essentially, selling a bootleg video of SOTT (on VHS). Since, surely, Universal is careful about such things, they must STILL hold the video rights. As far as I know, there has never been any change in the video rights to SOTT, since Universal has had it in print ever since it was first released.

And, regarding Prince discussing "future music release(S)" with Universal...he's shopped his last few projects to many of the major labels. I do think, though, that he has worked something out with Universal regarding the rights and royalty administration for his back catalog. That has all switched from Warner-Chappell to Universal, if I remember semi-correctly.

...or they could have printed many copies of the VHS when it was last in print, and are simply selling off inventory. I seriously doubt ANY studio is printing VHS catalog titles at the moment, except for very popular titles.

Electric2k said:

I'm not talking the physical copies you see in a store or copies piled in a warehouse somewhere, I'm not even talking about actual physical copies - I'm talking about Universal listing it as one of their in print and currently available titles. Even if they have copies to distribute, they would still announce, to the industry at least, that the title is out of print.

It's not.

Oh Yeah Baby ...i've deeply looked in to this dvd ..and all i can say it's very real and the sound kicks PEACE
ps it's about freaking time ..lol