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Should Classic Films be allowed to slip into public domain?
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Re: Should Classic Films be allowed to slip into public domain?
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Rob
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Feb 24 14 8:35 PM
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If you go back to the original intent of copyright law, it was for the creator of a work to be able to profit from that work for a while, and then the work would belong to the public...which could in turn expand, improve, or otherwise do anything they wanted with it. It was to prevent information from being throttled.
Ignoring all of the "best available print" issues, I'm firmly pro-public domain. Without it, most printed works that are now considered classics (including those by Shakespeare, Poe, Twain, and scores of others) wouldn't have been distributed as widely, and some of them may have remained relatively undiscovered (well, probably not Shakespeare, but you get the idea). As it stands now in the US, anything published before 1923 (and by published, I mean distributed to the public) is in the public domain UNLESS there is only one extant copy, and then the person who owns the copy can regain its copyright. (This is probably what happened with the guy who owns the Edison Frankenstein film.)
When I lived in Taiwan 15 years ago, copyright only protected foreign (i.e., American) films that were under 35 years old. There were LOADS of DVDs of pretty much any classic film that you could name, and they were relatively cheap (usually around $2-3 US). Most of them were ported over from VHS or laserdisc, but they were usually of passable quality, and many of them didn't get US releases until years later. I loved it.
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Welcome to the CHFB
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CHFB TURNS 20!
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards
Universal Horrors
The Universal Monsters Blu-Ray Collection
Golden Age Horror
Kong - 8th Wonder of the World
Silent Horror
Poverty Row
The World of Sherlock Holmes
Murder and Mystery
Thrills and Chills
'50s Horror and Sci-Fi
'60s Horror and Sci-Fi
'70s Horror and Sci-Fi
Hammer Horror
The Psycho Ward
Foreign Horror
Japanese Giants
Horror and Sci-Fi of Recent Decades
Current Films
Second Takes on Films of the 2000s
Independent Films and Documentaries
Coming Soon
TV Terrors
Classic Horror on DVD, Blu-Ray and Streaming
Stream and Stream Again
Horror Film Books and Magazines
Horror by Candlelight
Horror Comics and Fantasy Art
Monster Toys and Collectibles
Classic Horror Movie Memorabilia
Horror Music
Old Time Radio and Audio Horror
Classic Horror Online
CHFB Member Reviews
Our Favorite Horror Hosts
Classic Disney Scares
Horror Film Stars
Men Behind the Monsters
Monster Kid Memories
General Horror and Sci-Fi
Horror Tech
Movie of the Day
Off Topic Discussions
Classic Horror News and Events
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DVR / TiVo Alert
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Should Classic Films be allowed to slip into public domain?
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