Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Old films? Wheredo I send?

This is topic Old films? Wheredo I send? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=011238

Posted by Jonathan Bodge (Member # 4072) on 05-21-2012, 08:40 PM:

I have a few old 35 cartoons/& B&W kids acting. One is nitro and very old. Is there a place I could send them to if they should be archived?

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-21-2012, 08:44 PM:

Send them to me, I can get them over to the UCLA Film Archive for preservation. Contact me by PM.

Posted by Donald Brown (Member # 5427) on 05-21-2012, 08:51 PM:

Jon:

All of the old intermission materials that I had accumulated from drive-in theatres throughout New England and West Virginia, nearly 26,000 feet, are now in a collection at Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport, Maine. The organization has a temperature controlled storage facility, The Cube, to accommodate stock at various levels of stability with different environmental controls. Northeast Historic Film can be reached at: www.oldfilm.org

Don Brown

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-21-2012, 09:06 PM:

How would one send nitate content that is in great condition per chance?

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 05-21-2012, 09:30 PM:

Eastman House in Rochester NY is another possibility.

Note that it is illegal to ship nitrate film thru the US Mail. Some archives will arrange shipping for you, and send you packing instructions.

Cartoons on safety film can be sold on eBay. Actually, so can nitrate cartoons and shorts, but legally shipping nitrate is a costly pain.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 05-21-2012, 10:23 PM:

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Cartoons on safety film can be sold on eBay.

If you check the "Intellectual Property" section of e-bay's
policy rules, it specifically prohibits selling 35 & 70mm
film prints, although I have occasionally seen some listed.

Sometimes the sellers get creative with the way they list
it, and call it "used 35mm reels with film" or something
like that.

I found out about the "no 35mm" rule some years ago,
when I had an extra print of a film I wanted to sell.
E-bay rejected my listing because it violated their
"intellectual property" rules. I even agrued with
them that I had another print of the same film in
16mm and I could sell that one on e-bay, if I wanted
to, but not the 35mm one - even though it was the
same title. Go figure. . . .

E-bay will permit you to list a 35 or 70mm film
print if you can provide proof that you are the
legal copyright owner or authorized agent of same.

Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 05-21-2012, 10:36 PM:

Does that apply to trailers as well? I've bought some older trailers off eBay.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-21-2012, 11:57 PM:

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
...but legally shipping nitrate is a costly pain.

Should anyone ever wish to do that, quote UN materials classification no. 1324 when asking a shipping company for a quote. That will enable them to look up everything they need to know in order to ship the stuff safely and legally. AMIA's nitrate film committee have also done a lot of work on resources and guidelines related to shipping the stuff within the US, and are worth getting in touch with if this is something you're seriously contemplating doing.

On the Ebay issue, this sounds to me like ass-covering. The studios' line is that theoretically, any 35mm or 70mm print in private hands has to be stolen property, because they never sold outright or gave away any prints to anyone. As against which, many private collectors acquired films from dumpsters after the facility being paid to store them no longer got paid and got rid of them, etc. etc., and so the legal ownership of 35mm and 70mm films in private hands is a grey area that, I'm guessing, Ebay have decided that they just don't want to touch, hence the ban.

Interestingly, there are shedloads of 35mm trailers on the British Ebay site all the time, but virtually never any actual feature films. I'm guessing this is because trailers are given away and no-one can deny it - they're sent unsolicited to theatres, for goodness' sake - and so Ebay take the view that no law enforcement agency in its right mind would take a stolen property complaint about trailers seriously.

Posted by Jonathan Bodge (Member # 4072) on 05-22-2012, 10:47 AM:

Well! Any excuse to go kayaking in Maine I'm all for! I think I'll hand deliver to Bucksport. Thanks all...

Posted by Keith Paynter (Member # 6532) on 05-22-2012, 12:01 PM:

quote: Jonathan Althaus
Does that apply to trailers as well? I've bought some older trailers off eBay.

I believe that since trailers are advertising materials and have an "expiry date", they are qualified to sell on ebay. I think there's also something to do with the fact that it is already an edited form of a larger work.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 05-22-2012, 12:15 PM:

35mm movies are a restricted item on eBay, not a prohibited item. While ebay does not seem to define what the restriction conditions are, in practice it means that anything goes unless a rights holder complains, at which time a specific auction will be pulled. There are a lot of 35mm cartoons and features on eBay.

Current eBay Intellectual Property Page

As to trailers, most older trailers, especially those from before 1990, were not copyrighted.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-22-2012, 12:49 PM:

quote: Jonathan Bodge
Well! Any excuse to go kayaking in Maine I'm all for! I think I'll hand deliver to Bucksport. Thanks all...

David Weiss is the director of NHF and a lovely guy - if you call ahead and set up an appointment, I'm sure he'd be happy to give you a tour.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 05-22-2012, 04:22 PM:

A projectionist friend gave me an original SPIDERMAN #1 trailer showing the World Trade Centre that was replaced with another after the 9/11 tragedy and was wondering if there is any value to it?

I do recall many people being very disapointed when it was not included in the special edition of the movie on Blu Ray and DVD. It is as though the trailer never existed at all.

-Claude

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 05-22-2012, 04:52 PM:

quote: Jonathan Bodge
One is nitro and very old. Is there a place I could send them to if they should be archived?

I have a contact at the Library of Congress Packard Center in Culpeper, VA if you are interested.

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 05-24-2012, 06:29 AM:

The Ebay "rules" are a joke. I've seen many films listed and sold on Ebay. I've bought a bunch of them myself.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-26-2012, 12:49 PM:

(Richard .. sent you a PM)