chucking a rock into the copyright chicken coop
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — I Need To Know
RavenGlamDVDCollector — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 02:18 AM)
Many TV shows, from past and present, do not get released on DVD. Many movies from decades gone by, has also suffered the same fate.
What to do if you cannot see your favorite on DVD?
There is sweet bloody zilch that you can do! E-mailing campaigns may let you feel you are at least trying, but apart from the difficulty of finding the relevant e-mail address, it is futile. Organized campaigns like Save The Secret Circle drew zero result. The show remained cancelled, and is doomed never to be released on DVD.
I have a suggestion. Actually, I'm so peeved I want to place it as a demand.
If movie-producing company AAA makes a film BBB, which they do not release on DVD within five years, it should become abandoned property, giving opportunists the right to make it available in whichever way would reach the consumer. Copyright would lapse if the holders of said copyright do not utilize that copyright making it available to the public.
There are many movies and TV shows that are for all practical purposes lost to the viewing public. They're not on DVD, they're not on TV anymore, they're not on the Internet as downloads, so where are they?
I just know that if such legalization came into effect, NOBODY would bury their products away, everything would get released on DVD, to exercise control over it.
I am not opposed to copyright, nor do I condone copyright violations. I do however applaud companies producing unauthorized DVDs to satisfy the nostalgic needs. But their products cannot be sold in legitimate shops. Hell, of course they are in breech of copyright, but do they hurt anybody, since those products have been abandoned anyway?
IN SHORT: RELEASE ON DVD OR RELINQUISH YOUR RIGHT TO DO SO.
My unrefined idea:
You have created a need for this product by having made it available once, even if many years ago. Now follow up, or let someone else do so. A specific time is set out, after which, your right lapses.
This message is posted by a guy who suffers hard from being haunted by Unreleased-on-DVD-but-that's-the-one-I-want.
Your comment and input appreciated! Let's make a blog out of this RIGHT HERE! -
Takeshi-K — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 08:06 AM)
Five years isn't long enough. It should be at least fifty years. Filmmakers work hard to make films. They deserve to get royalties for years, especially when producers are usually the last to get paid. This might be two or three years after the release, even more. By setting it at five, you would be preventing many producers from making a basic living.
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RavenGlamDVDCollector — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 09:48 AM)
To WillEd, thanks for sharing. There are times when we do need Mickey Mouse in the public domain. Hollywood manufactures very delicious sweets with a timeless taste, and there remains a craving for it, but when you go to the candy store, that particular taste is off the market. I'd go to the Mickey Mouse who could supply. There exists on-line companies, I'm not naming any names, but they offer VHS-transfers, DVD-R. I own one such product. It is shoddy by comparison to what the real thing would have been like, but it is a most valued possession that allowed me to relive a 1996 - 1997 TV show that was once highly popular, and then just forgotten.
This product cannot be sold in stores as it doesn't have legitimate authorization.
I'm thinking maybe this company should just be obliged to pay a fee to the rights-holder. Cough up some respect. In return their product is legit and available in stores, but sold with a warning that it is not a high-quality offering, for die-hard fans only.
That way Mickey Mouse isn't just an opportunistic cheese thief. -
hobnob53 — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 09:02 AM)
I share your frustration, but you have even less chance of this happening than an email campaign to a studio.
I'm very sensitive to copyrights and don't like the idea of someone forfeiting their rights, but on the other hand your "use it or lose it" philosophy is tempting.
The solution is to persuade the studios who don't want to release their films and TV shows to license their rights out. That preserves their copyrights but allows other companies to do the job of releasing these films, and both will make some money off of it. This is in fact what's already happening. Companies like Kino-Lorber, Olive Films and of course Criterion are busy doing this regularly. That's your best chance of getting unreleased stuff.
One thing that bugs me is that a number of films made by major studios fell into public domain because of studio oversight or neglect. This has allowed a large number of inferior copies to flood the market (like what once happened to
It's a Wonderful Life
before the copyright was bought up). What many forget is that even though a film may have become p.d., that doesn't prevent the original studio from marketing its own copy, which would certainly be superior because the studio would have the original negative and be able to make the most pristine print. Yet the studios only occasionally bother to release their own versions of such p.d. films. They're really missing out on something.
The majors could also step up their MOD series, an inexpensive way of satisfying demand for films that may have only limited appeal. -
RavenGlamDVDCollector — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 09:27 AM)
Hobnob53, yours is the kind of input I truly value. Thank you first and foremost for seeing it from my viewpoint. I am not in favor of little hyenas running away with the lion's catch. Basically this is my revenge fantasy speaking, after years and years of fruitless searches for some titles. But you give new life to my proposal. They should "licence their rights out" for there might well be takers for, say, a popular fairly recent show like THE SECRET CIRCLE and there might still be a market for SAVANNAH, to name but two.
I'm glad, though, that you could pause and see how tempting this sounds.
Kino-Lorber, Olive Films and Criterion: any valid current e-mail addresses available?
To everybody out there who has anything to add, let's keep this subject alive!