| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Joe Blevins |
Posted - 06/01/2007 : 15:03:43
If a movie falls into the public domain, could you do a remake of it without paying anyone for the rights? I know you can use the footage pretty much however you want. Take Commando Cody. I've seen at least three re-dubbed versions (both on home video complilations and web sites), and it was used on MST3K, too.
But what about the plot and characters. Do they become public domain, too? |
| 11 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| randall |
Posted - 08/23/2007 : 23:19:42
quote:
Originally posted by wildhartlivie
There's been an extension on US copyrights thanks to Sonny Bono and the original copyright can be renewed.
Yeah, but you have to be proactive if your copyright year is past a certain sell-by date. I know some authors who have lost the copyright on their own stuff because they didn't understand the required paperwork.
The U.S. copyright laws continue to be juggled around not by Sonny Bono [though he did help his constituent], but by one particular corporate entity:
The Walt Disney Co |
| w22dheartlivie |
Posted - 07/14/2007 : 11:43:07
There's been an extension on US copyrights thanks to Sonny Bono and the original copyright can be renewed. |
| randall |
Posted - 07/06/2007 : 17:12:14
quote:
Originally posted by Whippersnapper
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
Does anybody really enjoy PD movies? I do, when I'm in the right mood. There's a company called Mill Creek Entertainment that is scooping them up into 50-movie DVD packages: 12 double-sided discs. The prints are horrible, the sound jumps out of sync [GRIND HOUSE, anyone?] but even without the MST3K gags, about half of them are wonderfully entertaining.
I'm going to send you to one in particular with which I've already gifted several like-minded birthday boys and girls: this one. You have to have a stomach for PDs, but if you do, it's nirvana.
I'd love to see this one listed by Amazon:
Gamera the Invincible starring Brain Donlevy
It was Amazon's mistake: the packaging by Mill Creek got it right! But I'd love to see something with Brain Donlevy too... |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 07/05/2007 : 23:14:27
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
Does anybody really enjoy PD movies? I do, when I'm in the right mood. There's a company called Mill Creek Entertainment that is scooping them up into 50-movie DVD packages: 12 double-sided discs. The prints are horrible, the sound jumps out of sync [GRIND HOUSE, anyone?] but even without the MST3K gags, about half of them are wonderfully entertaining.
I'm going to send you to one in particular with which I've already gifted several like-minded birthday boys and girls: this one. You have to have a stomach for PDs, but if you do, it's nirvana.
I'd love to see this one listed by Amazon:
Gamera the Invincible starring Brain Donlevy
|
| randall |
Posted - 07/05/2007 : 22:13:54
Does anybody really enjoy PD movies? I do, when I'm in the right mood. There's a company called Mill Creek Entertainment that is scooping them up into 50-movie DVD packages: 12 double-sided discs. The prints are horrible, the sound jumps out of sync [GRIND HOUSE, anyone?] but even without the MST3K gags, about half of them are wonderfully entertaining.
I'm going to send you to one in particular with which I've already gifted several like-minded birthday boys and girls: this one. You have to have a stomach for PDs, but if you do, it's nirvana. |
| RockGolf |
Posted - 06/20/2007 : 14:48:55
Not sure about movies, but in the UK copyright & royalties stop on recordings after 50 years. I've read that several Cliff Richard recordings are on the verge of becoming public domain and he is actively trying to get the copyright period extended. This means that Beatles recordings could start becoming PD by 2012, only 5 years away. I just can't see that happening.
From Bits of News
quote:
Today there is a 50-year limit on copyright of sound recordings in the UK. This, for instance, means that Cliff Richard�s first single fall out of copyright next year, and the Beatles� first single fall out of copyright in five years time.
Before we carry on we have to make an important distinction. This article is about the copyright in sound recordings. The copyright in the music (and lyrics) is something else. In the UK the copyright in the music lasts for the composer�s lifetime plus 70 years. In other countries it�s more or less the same. The copyright in music lasts for the composer�s lifetime plus a number of years after his or her death.
However, this article is not about the copyright in music, it�s about the copyright in sound recordings.
The House of Commons� culture committee�s statement on copyright in sound recordings comes after a debate that�s been going on for some time. Last autumn a report commissioned by the British government recommended that the copyright protection in the UK should not be extended. In December last year 4000 artists and bands took out a full page advert in the British newspaper Financial Times. Here they demanded an extension of the time sound recordings are protected in the UK from 50 to 95 years, like they have in the US.
The House of Commons� culture committee didn�t just say that artists have a �moral right� to keep control over their creations while alive. They specified this by saying that the copyright term of sound recordings should be extended to at least 70 years. In the report they also said that �We have not heard a convincing reason why a composer and his or her heirs should benefit from a term of copyright which extends for lifetime and beyond, but a performer should not.�
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| benj clews |
Posted - 06/20/2007 : 11:16:36
I've heard that, in the UK at least, copyright expires 50 (I think) years after the death of the author, hence why works from the likes of Skakespeare are rife for reworking. Presumably this is superseded by the author's estate in some way, though.
In my usual half-informed way, I have no idea how or indeed if this applies to movies. |
| GHcool |
Posted - 06/20/2007 : 06:15:25
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
P.D. is P.D., including character and plot. But since Shakespeare has proved that there are only 5-6 plots in existence, no worries...
As Shakespeare would have written, "P.D. or not P.D.? That is the question." |
| randall |
Posted - 06/20/2007 : 03:24:49
P.D. is P.D., including character and plot. But since Shakespeare has proved that there are only 5-6 plots in existence, no worries... |
| GHcool |
Posted - 06/02/2007 : 07:03:13
I would guess that if the movie is in public domain, then so are the characters and plot. If it weren't, every theater company would be paying the Shakespeare estate for every performance or revival of a Shakespeare play. New productions that are based on Shakespeare such as West Side Story or Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead would also have to pay to avoid copyright legislation. I'm 99% sure there is no such Shakespeare estate demanding compensation for the use of characters and plots. |
| Downtown |
Posted - 06/01/2007 : 16:45:38
I guess the question is whether or not a copyright on a movie also covers the screenplay the movie was made from, or if they would have seperate copyrights. Can one be copyrighted and the other public domain? I don't know, but it's a good question. |
