OneGoodRib t1_j2czgof wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:14 AM

Reply to comment by AlanMorlock in Tomorrow is Public Domain Day in the US. What newly in the public domain movie will you be watching in 2023? by cv5cv6

How does copyright increase the likelihood of films being lost entirely? Most films that I know of that are entirely lost would be public domain by now anyway because they're from the 20s, and they're not lost because they're copyrighted, rather because nobody bothered to preserve film back then, or else the only known copy got destroyed in a fire.

People can't even argue about the Disney vault anymore because they pretty much stopped "once it's in the vault it's gone forever" like 15 years ago, and especially don't bother with it now that Disney+ is a thing.

AlanMorlock t1_j2d0gnp wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:28 AM

The less a piece of media is able to circulate the higher chance it has of becoming lost.

Many of the films that are lost are lost because there was 1 copy held by the owner that were destroyed in various ways. There have been thousands of films destroyed in fires at the major studios, or destroyed by the studios on purpose. There are films and TV episodes thst only still exist because copies weren't returned according to policy or because they were pirated. Nosferatu was found in violation of Bram Stokers copyright and all copies were ordered destroyed. The film was nearly entirely lost on purpose.

Today, Warner Brothers properties not already pirated or on disc could very easily go up in smoke like the Batgirl movie if WB decides its in their interest.

The vast majority of Disney's holdings are not available on streaming.

Disney might not be interested in playing or releasing a given Fox film from 1951, but no one else is allowed to either.

Films becoming lost isn't just a 1920s problem. It's actually becoming a big issue for a lot of 90s independent film, the rights caught up in complex webs of defunct financiers. In some case the elements might be available but efforts to restore or distribute them are hindered by the legal situation even though no one is exploiting the copyright. Under the original copyright laws, unless intentionally renewed, the rights from movies from 1994 would already be lapsing and those materials would be freed up.