[78-L] E.U. just as corrupt as the U.S.^

[Harold Aherne]

Two legal precedents in the early 1990s changed the situation somewhat. First was the 
Supreme Court decision Stewart vs. Abend, decided 24 April 1990, the essential gist of 
which was to allow the creators of a work some control over derivative works. One 
practical effect of the decision comes into play when the master work had its copyright
renewed but the derivative work did not: "It's a Wonderful Life" is the most prominent 
example. Phillip Van Doren Stern's short story used the basis of the film did have its
copyright renewed; the film itself did not. Republic Pictures, through a series of coporate 
changes, owned the film by the time of the Stewart vs. Abend decision *and* owned the 
movie rights to the underlying story. By 1993 they had successfully removed IAWL from
the public domain using Stewart vs. Abend as their justification----that's why it appears 
only on NBC nowadays and is no longer shown all over the place during the holiday 
season.
 
Additionally, in 1994 the Uruguay Round Agreements Act restored all lapsed American 
copyrights to foreign films that had been registered in the U.S. Many overseas 
releases were copyrighted in the U.S. at the time of their domestic release, but they 
frequently didn't have their copyrights renewed at the 28-year mark (especially if they
were already protected in their home country). American distributors thus often treated
these titles as PD regardless of their status elsewhere in the world. The URAA changed 
that, and one consequence was that some films disappeared from the PD market.
"The Gold Rush" is a notable example; the Chaplin film was American-made and not 
renewed in 1953, but since Chaplin was a British subject the film is widely believed
to have had its copyright restored by the 1994 act. (This hasn't been tested in court,
to my knowledge, and opinions vary on whether the Chaplin estate could uphold its
claim to the silent version.)
 
-HA


--- On Fri, 9/9/11, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

From: Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] E.U. just as corrupt as the U.S.
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Date: Friday, September 9, 2011, 1:55 PM




The Public Domain is a black hole. Nothing that enters it can escape. Once something is P.D., traditionally it has been P.D. forever.

Cary Ginell