[78-L] O/T Films

[Don Cox]

On 03/08/2014, Julian Vein wrote:

> 
> On 03/08/14 14:08, Don Cox wrote:
>> On 03/08/2014, Julian Vein wrote:
>> 
>>> What happens to films after they've been shown in the cinema and on
>>> TV? I'm not referring to digital forms of the genre.
>>> 
>> The release prints are sent around to smaller cinemas until they
>> wear out.
>> 
>> Release prints are supposed to be returned to the distributors, who
>> will
>> send superfluous copies for recycling of the plastic film base.
>> 
>> But sometimes for various reasons a print may be kept at the theatre
>> and
>> not returned. Some may then survive for decades in storage. This is
>> why "lost" films
>> are regularly found.
>> 
>> Regards
> ========================= I suppose that is the official explanation,
> but I wonder what happens in reality? Have these "lost" films
> deteriorated during their years of storage, because when they get
> released on DVD they usually aren't very good quality. 

Sometimes the only surviving copy is a 16mm print. These were never good
quality in the first place. This applies to sections of "Metropolis", for
instance.

Some old films on DVD are of excellent quality. For example, the Max
Linder comedies (pre 1914) in the compilation set, or the GPO
documentaries from the 1930s issued by the British Film Institute. A lot
depends on the budget available for restoration. Removing dust marks is
very expensive.

Other DVDs are derived from poor VHS versions, which may even have been
taped off air.

> Some are
> obviously copied off the air, but others are copied from the original
> elements. 

The lost films I had in mind are silents which predate TV by many years.

> But, that raises the question: what did the TV companies do
> with their copies? If they aren't returned to the distributor, who is
> the legal owner, and who has the right to show/copy/sell them?
> 
The distributor is the legal owner of the physical copy, but may not
still be in business if the film was distributed several decades ago. 

The copyright will belong to the production company. Songs, original
book, etc may have their own copyright owners.

> I suspect that when cinemas close down and are converted to bingo
> halls, any contents are are trashed and sent for landfill. I would
> think that the reels, unlike 16" radio transcriptions, would be too
> large and numerous to have "walked" out of the buildings.
> 


Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox at enterprise.net