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Posted by Kimba W. Lion on 07/16/06 02:43
Steve <jazzhunter@atcollectorAGAIN.org> wrote:
>It took two
>million dollars to restore "Sunset Boulevard" because no decent
>elements had survived due to several changes in the library ownership.
>Having a studio own the rights to a film means that film remains
>protected.
Don't you see that you just contradicted yourself? Rights and studios are
bought and sold continually and things do get lost in the shuffle.
Who owns the US rights to a film close to my heart, "Christian the Lion"?
No one seems to know, so the only way anyone can possibly see it is via one
of the PD releases that have been made over the years. The US videos were
made from a worn, edited print, but it's a choice between the film being
seen in some form, or lost.
For other films, the key is an educated consumer. If the same film were to
be available on a Warners DVD and a Madacy DVD, which would be the better
choice? Know your labels.
At least two TV series that I know of had their master negatives destroyed
but have been restored using materials in private hands since both TV series
have fallen into the public domain.
There is at least one company dealing with PD films and doing an amazing job
of restoring them: Legend Films.
Public domain is a good thing and that's why it was written into the
copyright laws. Recent changes to those laws, that diminish PD, are insane.
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