[78-L] O/T Films

[Randy Watts]

________________________________
 From: Don Cox <doncox at enterprise.net.invalid>
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com 
Sent: Monday, August 4, 2014 9:09 AM
Subject: Re: [78-L] O/T Films
  


> 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?

In the early '80s, a TV station I was working for while in college had a few hundred 16mm reels of cartoons (Popeye and Warner Bros.) for which the station's contract had expired and that were supposed to be returned to the distributor (United Artists, at the time). Rather than ship all those reels back, UA had us remove the first few feet of each cartoon, including all the main title sequences. That footage was returned to them as proof that the prints had been "destroyed." The reels and what footage remained on them went into the dumpster. UA knew that even if those prints fell into private hands, they'd be worthless to collectors with their main titles and first minute or so of the cartoon itself missing.

Randy