Date: June 26th 2006

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING PROPOSED BOLTZ v. BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT SETTLEMENT

OVERVIEW

Thank you for writing to us about the DVD Closed Captioning and Subtitling Settlement. This is an automated response which is sent automatically to everyone who emails us. We apologize that we can't respond to everyone personally, but there are many millions of class members and it would be impossible to write to everyone individually.

We are "class counsel", which means that we are the attorneys who represent the plaintiff, Russ E. Boltz, and the class of all other people who use captioning and who bought or rented DVDs which had uncaptioned special features. Mr. Boltz hired us to challenge the major movie studios' practice of marking all of their DVDs as "cc" or other captioning label, even though only part of the DVD - the movie itself - was actually captioned.

The legal notices of the settlement which have been approved by the court as accurate descriptions of the settlement are the "official" descriptions and should be consulted for details. These notices have been published in major newspapers and magazines and can also be gotten from www.dvdcclabelingclasssettlement.com. However, they are written in "legalese" because they have to be 100% accurate. This email will explain the main parts of the settlement in plain English without worrying about the complicated details.

WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT?

DVDs have two parts: the movie itself and the special features, like "deleted scenes", "director's commentary," etc. The studios marked their DVDs as being captioned even though they were actually only captioning the movie itself, and not the special features.

Our case contends that this labeling was misleading. The studios should have accurately informed consumers that only parts of the DVD content were captioned, instead of claiming that the whole disk was captioned. Or, of course, the studios could caption the special features too, and then label the whole disk as captioned.

Our case did not claim that the studios had to caption any DVD content at all if they didn't want to. We don't know of any law that requires them to caption DVDs. What our case argued was that the studios have to accurately label their DVDs.

WHAT IS THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT?

If the proposed settlement is approved by the court, it will require the five studios who are defendants (Disney, Warner, Universal, MGM and Sony) to start captioning most of their special features for the next five years. The exact details are different for each studio. But each studio will have to caption most kinds of special features on most DVDs. For example, the requirements for both Disney and Warner are expected to result in their captioning about 80% of all of the DVDs they sell.

This requirement for captioning of special features in the future is the main and most important part of the settlement relief. Our estimate is that the total number of DVDs with captioned special features because of this settlement will be many hundreds of millions of DVDs over the next five years. This will allow people who use captioning to fully enjoy the entire DVD content, instead of only the movie.

In addition, the studios will make payments totaling $275,000 to three non-profit organizations, the Hearing Loss Association of America, the National Association for the Deaf and Telecommunications for the Deaf.

IS THERE A CLAIM FORM?

No. There is nothing required of class members as part of this settlement. If the settlement is approved, then all consumers will be able to purchase DVDs with the additional captioning. If the settlement is not approved, then we will continue litigating against the studios. Either way, there is nothing required of you.

However, if you don't want to be part of this case, then you do need to follow the instructions provided in the official settlement notice. You will need to mail a request for exclusion before July 14, 2006.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

*1. Do I have to do anything to get the benefits of the proposed settlement?*

No. If you are a class member, you are automatically entitled to the benefits of the proposed settlement.

*2. Do I have any liability in this case if I do nothing at all?*

No. You are not being sued, and you do not have to do anything at all with respect to this settlement.

*3. How do I know if I am a class member?*

The legal description of the class appears at page 4 of the Official Court Notice, which you can download by visiting www.dvdcclabelingclasssettlement.com. To summarize, you are a class member if you are deaf or hard of hearing and you bought or rented any DVDs manufactured or produced by the defendants. You are also a class member if you bought or rented such DVDs expecting that the special features would be captioned, even if you are not deaf or hard of hearing.

*4. What DVDs are covered by the proposed settlement?*

The proposed settlement covers DVDs distributed on behalf of The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, MGM, and Sony Pictures and their subsidiaries and distribution arms.

*5. What are the benefits of the proposed settlement?*

Even though they have no legal obligation to do so, in the proposed settlement defendants agree to caption most special features on major categories of DVDs they sell. Class counsel believe that, if approved, the settlement will result in hundreds of millions of fully captioned DVDs being sold over the next five years.

The proposed settlement also provides the following charitable contributions:

$20,000 to the Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly SHHH), for use in a manner which is reasonably designed to help low income users of Home Video Products.

$85,000 to the Hearing Loss Association of America, to be used to promote captioning of visual arts (including motion pictures, television productions, and live productions).

$85,000 to the National Association for the Deaf, Inc. to be used to promote captioning of visual arts (including motion pictures, television productions, and live productions).

$85,000 to Telecommunications for the Deaf [and Hard of Hearing], Inc. to be used to promote captioning of visual arts (including motion pictures, television productions, and live productions).

*6. What am I giving up in exchange for these benefits?*

You are giving up your individual right to sue any defendant on a claim that you were misled by the "CC" or other captioning indication on their DVDs, or that the DVDs were not as warranted.

*7. Why is this a good deal?*

No law requires defendants to caption their DVDs at all, much less their special features. Settlement was the only way for the class to get the benefit of captioned special features on DVDs. The Class's claims potentially covered mislabeling for only four years, but the settlement provides for five years of captioning. We think that this extra captioning of hundreds of millions of DVDs will be of great benefit to the class and, in fact, many others who find captioning of use to them, their families and others.

We believe that any particular individual's damages as a result of DVD mislabeling would be small. For our case to recover damages on behalf of everyone, we would have to defeat the many arguments defendants have made against any award of damages. In addition, even if we obtained a class damage award, there would be huge costs in attempting to distribute small monetary awards to millions of people, particularly since most people don't have records or receipts of what DVDs they have bought over the last four years.

*8. Do I have to pay anything for the benefits of this settlement?*

No. The agreement provides that all of Class Counsels' attorneys' fees and costs will be paid directly by defendants.

*9. Is there any way for me to get captioning of special features on DVDs I already own?*

Generally, no. The proposed agreement covers DVDs to be released over the next five years, not DVDs that have been released in the past. However, if defendants re-master and re-release a DVD covered by the agreement, you could purchase the newly issued DVD.

*10. What is the justification for the attorneys' fee request?*

All attorneys fees in class actions like this one are set by the court after considering all of the facts and circumstances. The amount of attorneys fees in the official notice is the maximum amount that can be awarded, but the court might decide that a smaller award is appropriate.

Class counsel have spent extraordinary amounts of time, and incurred substantial expenses including expert fees, in bringing this case to the point of preliminary settlement approval. Class Counsel expect to spend substantial additional time and money getting it finally approved. Their efforts have accomplished a substantial benefit for the class, at no cost to the class, that all class members can benefit from without having to do anything at all. They have also obtained an award of $275,000 for three organizations advocating for the deaf and hard of hearing, to help them further advance the progress of captioning. Class counsel believe that all of this warrants the attorneys fees they will request.

*11. Who is the plaintiff, Russ Boltz?*

Mr. Boltz is an individual with congenital degenerative hearing loss in both ears. He has degrees from Kalamazoo (Michigan) College and the University of Notre Dame School of Law. He is an attorney, a mediator and an arbitrator. Mr. Boltz has many interesting "firsts" in his career, including presenting the first oral argument to the Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals using real-time captioning to ensure that he could hear all questions accurately (a practice he has subsequently used in other forums as well). Mr. Boltz views this case as a civil rights case, which has vindicated the right of people with hearing loss to enjoy DVDs just as hearing people do.

Please respect Mr. Boltz's privacy, and do not attempt to contact him about this case.

*12. Can I return any DVDs I bought which said they were captioned, but were not captioned as to the special features?*

That is between you and the merchant from whom you purchased the DVDs.

*13. Is there anything I can do to support this settlement?*

Yes. You can send a letter expressing your support for the settlement to: The Mills Law Firm, 145 Marina Boulevard, San Rafael, CA 94901. We will submit these to the Judge in support of final approval.

*14. What are my options if I do not support this proposed settlement?*

The Official Court Notice addresses this in greater detail, but generally, if you are opposed to the proposed settlement you can either opt out of it, or continue as a class member and object to it.

*15. What if none of these FAQs addresses my particular question?*

You should first obtain all details you can on the settlement from the settlement administrator's website, www.dvdcclabelingclasssettlement.com. You should not call the court or the plaintiff, Russ Boltz. If you still have unanswered questions, you can email Class Counsel at additionalquestions@themillsfirm.com. We will monitor email received at that address, and respond in due course. Please understand that the proposed class numbers in the tens of millions of people, and it is impracticable for us to answer questions by telephone for so many people. We appreciate your understanding in this regard, and urge you to study the detailed notice of settlement if you continue to have unanswered questions.


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