20th Century Home Entertainment (Warning Screens)/North America

Contents

1st Warning (June 1978-2010)	2nd Warning (December 21, 2004-September 2013)	3rd Warning (2009-April 14, 2020)	4th Warning (December 11, 2012-)	5th Warning (May 12, 2020-)

1st Warning (June 1978-2010)

1978 warning
1981 warning
Hanna-Barbera warning
Worldvision warning
1984-1999 warning
1998 Fullscreen FBI Warning
1998 Widescreen FBI Warning
1998 Fullscreen Attention Warning
1998 Widescreen Attention Warning

Visuals: On a bright red background are the words "FBI WARNING" (with "FBI" in large, tall letters and in Folio) with the FBI logo next to it. Under it is the FBI Warning text below:

June 1978-1984: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringement" version in News Gothic.
1984-August 31, 1999: "$250,000 fine" version in Helvetica.
November 3, 1998-2005: Same as above, except with additional text ("any use... is prohibited") and a somewhat more modern-looking and centered font.

Trivia: This warning is shown in the Video Pirates segment of the 1987 Universal anthology comedy Amazon Women on the Moon. In the segment, a group of pirates who like to illegally bootleg VHS tapes (the leader is played by William Marshall) find a treasure trove of VHS tapes and laserdiscs. One of them puts one into a VCR, and it displays the 1978 version of this warning (strangely, it's the "video discs" variant of the warning; the image is also not in color, though that may have been from the in-scene monitor). He then sarcastically says "Ooooh, I'm so scared!", and he and his crew break into laughter.

Variants:

A black and white version is seen on classic films and shorts in black & white.
On Hanna-Barbera Home Video releases, the red background is much brighter.
On 1990s Worldvision Home Video releases the drop shadow for the text is omitted, the font is different, and the background has a brownish tint.
There was also a variant with a black background spotted on the 1978 Magnetic release of The Sad Sack, the 1984 Embassy release of The Howling, and the 1983 Embassy release of Blade Runner.
Early Magnetic/20th Century-Fox/CBS-Fox videodiscs between 1981 and 1984 use a variant of this logo that removes "video tapes" and replaces it with "video discs" in a crude, mismatched fashion, using a font similar to the 1984-99 version of the warning.
On Magnetic/20th Century-Fox Video releases of Avco Embassy tapes, the warning screen would be preceded by a digital copyright notice with white chyroned text over a light background, which would then cut to this screen.
The 1982 20th Century Fox Video Betamax/1995 US VHS releases of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope have this play after the credits fade out with the film's closing theme fading out.
On the original release of Blackadder's Christmas Carol, the red background is brighter.
On late 1988-mid 1990 prints, from just before CBS/Fox Video started printing their tapes at Rank Video Services America, during this screen, a still version of the 1984 CBS/Fox Video logo appears a couple of times, staying on the screen for about five seconds before cutting back to the warning. Usually, it goes warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still; however, the full version, as seen on pressings of Broadcast News and Carousel, goes logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still, warning, logo still.
Some copies of the 1988 VHS release of Wee Willie Winkle feature this on a blue background instead of the black and white version.
On certain Video Treasures releases, the background is composed of the gray Video Treasures logo wallpaper shown in the second Video Treasures logo. More can be found on that company's respective warning screen page.
On the 1995 USA VHS of The Pagemaster, the warning appears onscreen for six seconds before cutting to black.
On Canadian releases from 1980-1999, instead of the warning, the INTERPOL warning scrolls up twice, once in English and French. Most other companies continued using the warning until 2003.
On the 1991 Canadian VHS of Home Alone, the text does not scroll up.
On DVDs from 1998-2003 and on VHS releases from 1999-2003, it cuts to the white word "ATTENTION" and the INTERPOL warning text below it, on the same background.
Starting in November 3, 1998 on DVDs and 1999 on VHS, a FOX name pattern is shown over the background.
On all Canadian VHS releases (before sometime in 2003) and all DVDs since December 2004, only the second screen is shown, and on Canadian releases, the warning text on the second screen changes to French.
On Spanish-language VHS releases, the FBI warning screen appears in English as usual, only to cut to a Spanish translation ("AVISO DEL FBI") several seconds later.
D-VHS cassettes feature this warning in the same aspect ratio as the feature presentation, and "FBI" is the same size as "WARNING". Additionally, "FBI WARNING" is centered, and the FBI seal is removed.
On Key DVD releases, the background is orange with a Key Video print logo pattern. The FBI seal is removed, and the text is aligned to the center. Also, on the second screen, the word "ATTENTION" is replaced by "INTERPOL WARNING".

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability:

Seen on Magnetic Video, 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, FoxVideo and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment releases from the era, in most cases after the program material (1981-1999) or before the program material (1978-1981, 1999-2004).
The 1979 release of The Making of Star Wars and many other pre-1981 tapes, as well as a few United Artists tapes from 1981 (including The Jazz Singer, The Barefoot Contessa, and Let It Be) have the warning precede the Magnetic Video logo.
Some early Magnetic videos, such as Beneath the Planet of the Apes and M*A*S*H (1978 print), have no warning; this premiered on reprints of bestsellers from summer 1978, including Hello, Dolly!.
This was also seen on some 1982-1983 Embassy Home Entertainment releases, including Escape from New York, Warlords of the Twenty First Century, and Deadly Blessing.
The videodisc variant can be seen on various 1981-83 Magnetic Video/20th Century-Fox Video/CBS-Fox Video releases.
This makes a surprise appearance on the 1992 Rhino Home Video release of Shindig! Presents: British Invasion Vol. 1.
The Canadian version also appeared on VHS and DVD releases from Telegenic Entertainment and Kaboom! Entertainment between 1997 and 2003. In 1999, the American screens replaced it on Fox tapes.
The black and white version is seen on the 1989 CBS/FOX Video release of House on Haunted Hill.
This makes a surprise appearance at the end of the Ace Video release of Subway, sourced from the 1986 Key Video release.
The version that cuts to the CBS/Fox logo appears at the start rather than the end, and can be seen on late 1988-mid 1990 prints of CBS/Fox Video releases, such as License to Kill, Iron Eagle, Die Hard, Magic Memories on Ice, The Sound of Music, A Fish Called Wanda, In Like Flint and a reprint of Billy Joel: Live from Long Island; the full sequence appears on some prints of Broadcast News and makes a surprise appearance on the VHS of Carousel, one of the first new CBS/Fox releases following the move to RVSA.
It also appeared on the VHS release of Sitting Pretty.
The last known release with this 1984-99 version of the warning was the 1999 VHS of Office Space.
The 1998 version debuted on Fox's first batch of DVD releases, then began to appear on VHS releases with The Thin Red Line.
Although the first screen of the 1998 version ended its run at the end of 2004, the second screen continued to be used at the beginning of 2004-2010 Fox DVD releases (and got replaced by the next warning screen below on their final VHS releases up to Roll Bounce).
The Attention screen also appears at the start of 2006-2010 MGM releases (following the 2003 MGM DVD logo).
The Spanish FBI Warning can be found hidden on the TCF Studio Classics: The Day The Earth Stood Still DVD.
The D-Theater variant appears on D-Theater VHS releases, such as those of Ice Age, Alien, True Lies, and I, Robot.
The Key DVD variation is rare.
Oddly, the second screen of the 1998 version abandoned VHS use sometime in 2003, while the first screen continued use until the next screen made its debut.
It makes a surprise appearance on the first three colorized volumes of Gilligan's Island, released by Warner Home Video in 1997.

2nd Warning (December 21, 2004-September 2013)

Widescreen DVD version
Blu-ray version

Visuals: On a blue/white gradient textured background is a colored FBI logo with "FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING" in a white box in front of it. The following text in white appears below:

The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted
work is illegal. Criminal copyright
infringement, including infringement
without monetary gain, is investigated
by the FBI and is punishable by up to
5 years in federal prison and a
fine of $250,000.

Variants:

Sometimes, the warning text will be rearranged.
The warning exists in both widescreen and fullscreen versions.
An enhanced version was used on some DVDs, UMDs and Blu-rays, in which the texture was different, the text and logo were smaller, and the text doesn't have a drop shadow.
On 2005-06 DVDs of Star Wars content and UMDs, the warning fades in and out.
A Spanish-language version of both the DVD and Blu-ray variants exists. It can be accessed by changing the language options on your DVD player to "Spanish", and may have been used on Spanish issues of Fox titles.
A squeezed 4:3 version appears on The Story of Star Wars, a Walmart exclusive bonus disc included with Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
- On the 2006 Unrated Special Edition DVD of The Boondock Saints, the text is not outlined, the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning seal is smaller, and the warning fades in and out.
On Fox Cinema Archives DVD-Rs, such as The Fighting Lady and Air Patrol, the warning fades out.
On Relativity Media titles and early DreamWorks Animation releases under Fox, such as Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness - Good Croc, Bad Croc, the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment variant is used.
On an awards consideration DVD of The Descendants, the screen crossfades to the "ATTENTION" screen of the 1998 warning.
On The Simpsons Movie, an additional warning from the Environmental Protection Agency is shown on the same background explaining the organization's actual objective (as the organization is lampooned extensively in the film proper).
On the 2014 Eagle Rock Deluxe Edition DVD of George Strait: The Cowboy Rides Away - Live from AT&T Stadium, the warning is stretched to a 16:9 ratio.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Used on all 20th Century Fox releases from the end of 2004 to September 2013, the first being the VHS of Napoleon Dynamite and the DVD of The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season.

Also seen on later TCF tapes, such as Fat Albert, Elektra, Because of Winn-Dixie, Fever Pitch, Robots, Fantastic Four (2005), Millions (2004), Rebound, and Roll Bounce.
On DVD, the enhanced version appears on Avatar, Flicka 2, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Cleveland Show: The Complete Season One, Chronicle, This Means War, Gulliver's Travels, Tooth Fairy 2, DVDs of Little Angels, Epic, and Broken City in place of the original. This version is also used on the 2017 Pinnacle Films DVD of The Legend of Ben Hall.
It also appears on MGM releases as well from 2006 to 2013.
This did not appear on some early HiT Entertainment releases from 2006 that were distributed by the company, which used the HiT warning and didn't use the 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo, but later on, this warning did appear alongside the attention screen and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo.
When the 4th warning was introduced, this kept appearing on DVDs, and one of the last DVD releases to use this was Epic.

3rd Warning (2009-April 14, 2020)

DVD version
Blu-ray version
MGM version

Visuals: On a black background is the following text in the Futura typeface:

WARNING

Warning: The copyright proprietor has licensed this disc
(including its soundtrack) for private home use only.
All other rights are reserved.

The definition of home use excludes the use of this disc at
locations such as clubs, coaches, hospitals, hotels, oil rigs,
prisons and schools. Any unauthorized copying, editing,
exhibition, renting, exchanging, hiring, lending, public
performance diffusion and/or broadcasting of this disc,
or any part thereof, is strictly prohibited and any such action
establishes liability for a civil action and may give rise to
criminal prosecution. This disc is not to be exported,
distributed and/or sold by way of trade without a proper
license from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC.
Sales and/or rental rights for this disc are specified on the
original packaging of this disc.

Variants:

Blu-ray releases have rearranged text.
MGM releases replace "Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC." with "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.".

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen at the end of all 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVDs and Blu-ray discs starting in mid-2009 (replacing the 2006 Deluxe Digital Studios logo) up until the rename.^[Examples?]

Also seen on DreamWorks Animation films from 2013-17.^[Examples?]
This warning made its final appearance on Underwater (2020).
The variation appears on MGM DVD releases.^[Examples?]

4th Warning (December 11, 2012-)

Visuals: On a black background is the same "FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING" logo at the top as the 5th warning, this time aligned to the left. To the right of the logo is the Department of Homeland Security badge. Below is the warning text. Then it switches to another screen, this time it has the Intellectual Property Rights Center logo. Below is the text: "Piracy is not a victimless crime. For more information on how digital theft harms the economy, please visit www.iprcenter.gov".

Variants:

Some The Simpsons DVD box sets and the 2016 DVD of Ice Age: Collision Course have the screen in 4:3.
October-December 2013 DVDs, the 2014 DVD of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and all Blu-Rays with this screen, use the Universal Pictures variant instead.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability:

Seen on all 20th Century Fox/Studios Home Entertainment releases, on Blu-Ray Discs starting with Ice Age: Continental Drift, and DVDs starting with The Croods.
Used along with the next warning since May 12, 2020.

5th Warning (May 12, 2020-)

Same as the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment warning screen.