http://www.toonzone.net/news/articles/3 ... betty-boop
Can't keep 80-year-old characters under copyright protection forever!
Fleischers lose copyright suit over Betty Boop...
-
- AV Founder
- Posts: 7270
- Joined: October 23rd, 2004
- Location: SaskaTOON, Canada
I wonder how this actually syncs up with current copyright law, in terms of timeframes. It's all so confusing when you read the history of these laws, and how they're applied. And challenged, and changed. Just goes to show how artificial the notion is (not that I'm against copyright--- but the issues and applications can be nebulous, especially once it goes from individuals to corporations).
Of course, what we all want to know is... does this at all affect the likelihood of Paramount ever dusting off the masters in their possession and finally doing Betty Boop DVDs? The resolution of the above lawsuit suggests that no money would have to be shared with the Fleischer estate.
Of course, what we all want to know is... does this at all affect the likelihood of Paramount ever dusting off the masters in their possession and finally doing Betty Boop DVDs? The resolution of the above lawsuit suggests that no money would have to be shared with the Fleischer estate.
Re: Fleischers lose copyright suit over Betty Boop...
I just hope if they ever do official Betty Boop DVD's that they're not the MOD crap. I hate DVD-R's! They're just an experiment in seeing which studio/brand name rots faster than the other one!
I'd prefer Blu ray releases even if it's just Standard Def transfers to save the number of discs that have to be pressed (and stored on shelves). You know that BD's would be more scratch resistant to boot, too. BD-R's are allegedly much better for archiving digital video, too. (More resistant to rotting.) If you don't have a BD burner, your best option for digital preservation of video is a portable HD drive... at least 1-2 TB.
Delays in releases make me semi-happy I never sold the LD box sets I have for Betty Boop and the Tex Avery MGM shorts. (The sheer bulk and weight of transporting those LD's makes me wish I HAD gotten rid of them in 1997/1998. The only thing that keeps the lD format relevant for me are the number of releases that HAVEN'T been reissued on DVD and BD in decent form. Some films are still only available on LD in widescreen format!!!!) The amount of time that's passed by so far without official releases is just sickening. Even the LD releases were at least 3-5 years earlier in the lifecycle of that format.
*******
I really don't know what's going on with copyright laws now.
The darn lawyers of the corporations extended the copyright laws (through their buddies in Congress) so that said-corporations earn money longer from T-shirt sales of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Popeye, and Betty Boop even though 3/4 of those characters hardly have DVD releases of the classic shorts that made them icons to begin with!
(I don't mind so much the film studios keeping the films of the characters as long as they release those films on home video and allow them to be exhibited on TV edits! That's what drives me nuts about the copyright extensions. The PD argument is B.S.... They're doing nothing with those films NOOOOOWWW!)
Lawyers (far worse capitalists to my mind than bank and oil barons) are a huge part of the abuses of basic law and rights in the Western hemisphere. That goes for everything like upholding the abuse of free speech by hatemongers like the Westboro Church and radical-aligned Islamists to the current copyright extensions that are at least unethical and abusive to the spirit of that law. The law (in general) wasn't supposed to be get as complicated and minuitae-oriented as it is now... It's nuts. I have to see a lawyer about something on Thursday and am biting my lips to keep from grinding my teeth over that situation. Sometimes there's no choice because "the law is what is now!" You literally cannnot do anything legal without a lawyer because they complicate things to death....
I'd prefer Blu ray releases even if it's just Standard Def transfers to save the number of discs that have to be pressed (and stored on shelves). You know that BD's would be more scratch resistant to boot, too. BD-R's are allegedly much better for archiving digital video, too. (More resistant to rotting.) If you don't have a BD burner, your best option for digital preservation of video is a portable HD drive... at least 1-2 TB.
Delays in releases make me semi-happy I never sold the LD box sets I have for Betty Boop and the Tex Avery MGM shorts. (The sheer bulk and weight of transporting those LD's makes me wish I HAD gotten rid of them in 1997/1998. The only thing that keeps the lD format relevant for me are the number of releases that HAVEN'T been reissued on DVD and BD in decent form. Some films are still only available on LD in widescreen format!!!!) The amount of time that's passed by so far without official releases is just sickening. Even the LD releases were at least 3-5 years earlier in the lifecycle of that format.
*******
I really don't know what's going on with copyright laws now.
The darn lawyers of the corporations extended the copyright laws (through their buddies in Congress) so that said-corporations earn money longer from T-shirt sales of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Popeye, and Betty Boop even though 3/4 of those characters hardly have DVD releases of the classic shorts that made them icons to begin with!
(I don't mind so much the film studios keeping the films of the characters as long as they release those films on home video and allow them to be exhibited on TV edits! That's what drives me nuts about the copyright extensions. The PD argument is B.S.... They're doing nothing with those films NOOOOOWWW!)
Lawyers (far worse capitalists to my mind than bank and oil barons) are a huge part of the abuses of basic law and rights in the Western hemisphere. That goes for everything like upholding the abuse of free speech by hatemongers like the Westboro Church and radical-aligned Islamists to the current copyright extensions that are at least unethical and abusive to the spirit of that law. The law (in general) wasn't supposed to be get as complicated and minuitae-oriented as it is now... It's nuts. I have to see a lawyer about something on Thursday and am biting my lips to keep from grinding my teeth over that situation. Sometimes there's no choice because "the law is what is now!" You literally cannnot do anything legal without a lawyer because they complicate things to death....