This is topic Any Advice on buy Rights to films??? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Darren Briggs (Member # 1071) on 09-07-2002, 04:28 PM:
Hi does anyone have any experience in buying the distribution rights to films and how do you go about it.
There are a few films we are interested in buying the rights to, as the original theatrical rights have expired. And if the prints of a certain film are still around, can you then use those prints when you own the rights to show that film????Cheers Darren
Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 09-07-2002, 05:11 PM:
Darren, All films and other printed or published materials such as books, photography, etc are copyrighted for a period of time and the creator has the option of renewing the copyright before it expires. If the copyright is not renewed, the material becomes "Public Domain" and anyone is free to use the material without cost and permission from the original creator.
With the very lucrative home video market, almost all movies continue to earn more money when they are released on DVD and tapes and I doubt very much if you will be able to buy the rights to any mainstream films. Even 'Grade C' movies that had a very limited theartical run or never played in a theatre has gone on to video and made some money.
-Claude
Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 09-07-2002, 05:38 PM:
Sometimes the original owner will "sell-off" the rights to a film, usually for a temporary time. They just want some money now, and let you do whatever to get some on your own. For example, a company I used work for (Trans-Lux) owned the rights to "The African Queen" for (I think) three years.
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 09-07-2002, 10:26 PM:
I think that was the arragement that Fox made for ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW -- it sold the rights either to individual theatres or to producing companies who then rented theatres. I am not sure if they made these entities buy their own prints, or the rights agreement included a print, but I know there were some entrapranuers in Brooklyn that four-walled a neighborhood theatre and ran midnight shows every weekend for a few years. They showed up with their own print and left with it at the end of the night. I believe one of the restrictions also was that it had to be run after midnight. These guys also showed up with goons who walked the print too and from the booth (and the BO take to and from their van). This however is certainly NOT a common practice; I would venture to say it probably is unique in the theatrical world, but it happened all the time in non-theatrical situations with 16mm prints being sold to libraries and schools. They typically could run them anytime they wanted (only in a non-theatrical context) until either a certain date, or more common, for the life of the print.
The networks also bought their own prints when then negotiated the rights to air a title. Usually the air dates were very limited -- one "television premiere" broadcast and perhaps one or two more re-runs and that's it. Because the print which they bought was "useless" to them after their contractual agreement the cost of a many prints that were run only a few times, literally in mint condition, were thrown out, to the great joy of many collectors. Of course when the use of film ended for network broadcasts, so did that source of collectors' prints.
And people wonder why we hate video.
Frank