No one holding US rights does not remotely make it an "orphan", it merely means the rights holder has chosen for one reason or another not to have it under license in the US. There are tens of thousands, maybe more films made outside the US that currently have no US distributor, heck likely 99% of all films made outside the US were never in shown in the US. RUSSIAN ARK is not likely a hard film to track down, it may be owned by the company which has the Wellspring Library or if the Wellspring contract expired the US rights would revert to company that owns it worldwide. You could probably find that in an original VARIETY review.
Dennis is probably better at this but in general to be an "orphan" a film must have been "abandoned" by a rights holder who can be located. In general it seems to apply more to non fiction works and it has no real legal status in the US unless the film is I believe in the last 20 years of it's copyright. OK shorter answer, just because you can't find the rights holder easily does not mean you can show the film and again a film like Russian Ark might take some work but you should be able to find the rights holder it is just a lot harder with foreign titles. On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 7:06 PM, khvostov <[email protected]> wrote: > What would happen if it WERE an "orphan"? If no one held US rights? > What then? > > > --- On *Mon, 3/19/12, Helen P. Mack <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: Helen P. Mack <[email protected]> > Subject: [Videolib] Rights holder for "Russian Ark" ? > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > Date: Monday, March 19, 2012, 1:23 PM > > > I am investigating the availability and cost of PPR for "Russian Ark," a > Russian-made film released in the U.S. in 2002 by Wellspring Media, in > 2003 by Fox Lorber, and in 2006 by Genius. However, I have been unable > to determine who owns the rights now. This film seems to be too young > to be an orphan already. > > Thanks to anyone who can help! > > -- > Helen P. Mack, Acquisitions Librarian > Lehigh University, Linderman Library > 30 Library Drive > Bethlehem, PA 18015-3013 USA > > Phone 610 758-3035 * Fax 610 758-5605 > E-mail [email protected] <http://mc/[email protected]> > > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as > an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. > > > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as > an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. > > -- Jessica Rosner Media Consultant 224-545-3897 (cell) 212-627-1785 (land line) [email protected]
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
