AlanMorlock t1_j2d29y9 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:53 AM

Reply to comment by koberulz_24 in Tomorrow is Public Domain Day in the US. What newly in the public domain movie will you be watching in 2023? by cv5cv6

There are movies that Arrow and Criterion, shout etc would love to put out, that they've actively pursued for years but aren't allowed to do so because either the rights holders won't let them, or it's not even clear who the rights holders even are.

You can get bargain bin 100 movie DVD packs that contain Night of the Living Dead and Chaplin films or you can get really nice restorations from Criterion and Kino Lorber.

koberulz_24 t1_j2d2e3j wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:54 AM

Yes, but would they bother doing anything if a public domain label could just put the same film out for much cheaper?

AlanMorlock t1_j2d2q5s wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:59 AM

You can buy a real nice Criterion disc of Night of the Living Dead or The Kid or a Kino Lorber disc of Nosferstu with the original score.

koberulz_24 t1_j2d2wq0 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 10:01 AM

Or Detour. Sure. But it's easier to manage as an occasional thing than it being their entire output. Even more so for labels where prestige and extras aren't a selling point.

Plus it'd be a return to the silent days where storing archival material is a waste of money because there's no future profit potential, so negatives would be junked and films would be lost at a far higher rate.

AlanMorlock t1_j2d33bx wrote on December 31, 2022 at 10:04 AM

Im.not arguing against any copyright at all, but there's also not much argume t for thr current 95 year limit thst wouldn't hold just as much at 70 and thr current laws were pushed several times due to the interest of one specific studio and one specific property. It's pretty absurd.

koberulz_24 t1_j2d38fg wrote on December 31, 2022 at 10:06 AM

For everything other than film, yes. But the expense of restoring film to look its best means it does actually benefit in a meaningful way. With a book, the words are the same regardless of how they're printed, and any complete copy of the book will give you enough to produce a perfect version no matter how crumpled or stained it might be.