Cinemark Movie Theaters Accused of Discrimination

[mark handler]

Cinemark Movie Theaters Accused of Discrimination

Chain is unfair to those with hearing disabilities, group claims

James Limbach

ConsumerAffairs.com

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/12/cinemark-movie-theaters-accused-of-discrimination.html

December 2, 2010

Going to the movies is central part of mainstream American life, with figures from the Motion Picture Association of America showing that more than 200 million people took in a flick last year.

But a lawsuit filed in Alameda Superior Court in California claims the Cinemark movie chain -- the third largest in the country -- discriminates against the deaf and hard of hearing communities by failing to provide any captioned movies at its theaters in Alameda County.

The suit was brought by The Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA) on behalf of its members with hearing loss, and two individual plaintiffs. The plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit disability rights firm headquartered in Berkeley, California, that specializes in high-impact cases on behalf of people with disabilities.

Movie captioning

The most common form of movie captioning technology is the Rear Window Captioning system. An LED screen is mounted in the back of a theater that displays captioned dialogue onto small reflective plastic panels provided by movie theaters to deaf and hard of hearing patrons. Only people with the reflective screens can see the captions, which they can adjust to superimpose on the screen.

Approximately 85 percent of first-run movies are captioned and compatible with the Rear Window system when they arrive at theaters "in the can." The only cost to movie theaters is the one-time installation of captioning equipment, which costs approximately $10,000.

Hearing loss and age

Approximately 36 million American adults report some degree of hearing loss, according to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders. Hearing loss increases with age: 18 percent of adults 45-64 years old, 30 percent of adults 65-74 years old, and 47 percent of adults 75 years old or older have a hearing impairment.

The correlation between aging and hearing loss is well established. The number of adults with hearing loss is expected to increase significantly as the baby boomer generation continues to age.

Unfairness charged

"We just want the opportunity to go to the movies with our friends and family like everybody else," explains Rick Rutherford who lives in El Cerrito. "By failing to screen captioned films, movie theaters like Cinemark are denying me an experience I thoroughly enjoyed before the onset of hearing loss."

"The theaters' unwillingness to screen captioned films is short-sighted, particularly as the hearing loss community continues to grow," says Kevin Knestrick, an attorney representing the Plaintiffs. "The technology is readily available and financially, it is a drop in the bucket for theater chains like Cinemark to provide this service for men, women, and children with hearing loss."

Linda Drattell, a plaintiff in the case, says "It's disappointing to read reports of blockbuster holiday weekends with films like 'Harry Potter'' and 'Unstoppable,' and I can't go because Cinemark refuses to provide captioning."

The lawsuit alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California's anti-discrimination statutes, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and Disabled Persons Act.

Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/12/cinemark-movie-theaters-accused-of-discrimination.html#ixzz171DEuqEc

 

[texasbo]

Four words: Headquartered In Berkley California.

 

[conarb]

Now here's some discrimination against the handicapped, Oklahoma too, Uncle Bob's territory. Uncle Bob, get that problem in hand will you?

 

[Gene Boecker]

FYI:

1. The original ADA language specifically stated that captioning was not a part of accessibility design since it was not under the control of the theater circuits.

2. The courts have ruled in differing positions on this subject with the latest in favor of mandating closed (not open) captioning on a percentage of the screens (How many people like seeing captions on the screens?)

3. The DoJ is soliciting input on the subject. http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010/movie_captions_anprm_2010.htm

4. The motion picture industry (studios, producers, distributors, filmmakers and exhibitors) are working with the DoJ to set some type of usable parameters for future captioning.

5. While major films like the Harry Potter series and Unstoppable have most of their films set up with captioning included. Independents, foreign and smaller studios do not.

 

[mtlogcabin]

movie theaters like Cinemark are denying me an experience I thoroughly enjoyed before the onset of hearing loss."

Yes it is the movie theaters fault he has a hearing loss.

The only cost to movie theaters is the one-time installation of captioning equipment, which costs approximately $10,000.

Is that per screen. What about liscense fees?

There are several competing technologies used to provide captioning for movies in theaters. Cinema captioning falls into the categories of 'open' and 'closed.' The definition of "closed" captioning in this context is different from television, as it refers to any technology that allows as little as one member of the audience to view the captions.

Open captioning in a film theater can be accomplished through burned-in captions, projected text or bitmaps, or (rarely) a display located above or below the movie screen. Typically, this display is a large LED sign. In a digital theater, open caption display capability is built into the digital projector. Closed caption capability is also available, with the ability for 3rd party closed caption devices to plug into the digital cinema server.

Probably the best-known closed captioning option for film theaters is the Rear Window Captioning System from the National Center for Accessible Media. Upon entering the theater, viewers requiring captions are given a panel of flat translucent glass or plastic on a gooseneck stalk, which can be mounted in front of the viewer's seat. In the back of the theater is an LED display that shows the captions in mirror image. The panel reflects captions for the viewer, but is nearly invisible to surrounding patrons. The panel can be positioned so that the viewer watches the movie through the panel and captions appear either on or near the movie image. A company called Cinematic Captioning Systems has a similar reflective system called Bounce Back. A major problem for distributors has been that these systems are each proprietary, and require separate distributions to the theater to enable them to work. Proprietary systems also incur license fees.

For film projection systems, Digital Theater Systems, the company behind the DTS surround sound standard, has created a digital captioning device called the DTS-CSS or Cinema Subtitling System. It is a combination of a laser projector which places the captioning (words, sounds) anywhere on the screen and a thin playback device with a CD that holds many languages. If the Rear Window Captioning System is used, the DTS-CSS player is also required for sending caption text to the Rear Window sign located in the rear of the theater.

Special effort has been made to build accessibility features into digital projection systems (see digital cinema). Through SMPTE, standards now exist that dictate how open and closed captions, as well as hearing-impaired and visually-impaired narrative audio, are packaged with the rest of the digital movie. This eliminates the proprietary caption distributions required for film, and the associated royalties. SMPTE has also standardized the communication of closed caption content between the digital cinema server and 3rd party closed caption systems (the CSP/RPL protocol). As a result, new, competitive closed caption systems for digital cinema are now emerging that will work with any standards-compliant digital cinema server. These newer closed caption devices include cup-holder-mounted electronic displays and wireless glasses which display caption text in front of the wearer's eyes.[10] Bridge devices are also available to enable the use of Rear Window systems. As of mid-2010, the remaining challenge to the wide introduction of accessibility in digital cinema is the industry-wide transition to SMPTE DCP, the standardized packaging method for very high quality, secure distribution of digital movies.

Maybe in the future it may be a national aor world wide standard but to win this one in court when theaters are not required by ADA to comply is wrong. I hope the theater appeals