Depends what you mean by "most" EYES had a ton of music and footage that was not licensed for DVD so it cost a fortune to do so. The exact same issues ( well image not music) exist with other films like HOLLYWOOD , THE PIONEERS, But these issues are at least straightforward. The more complex ones involve films where there are more questions about who owns what. For years PORGY AND BESS was kept out largely because the wife of Ira Gershwin hated it , she has since died but now there are issues involving Goldwyn and the massive costs of restoring it. Many films are messed up by some kind of underlying rights or remake rights. This keeps out some of my favorites including BULLDOG DRUMMOND STRIKES BACK and HELLZAPOPPIN. In most cases clearing the rights is simply too expensive to justify. I recently found out that a major silent film has been removed not because of any issue with the film itself but because of an extra on the DVD that the rights holder wanted a silly amount of money to re license. Given that only a hundred or so copies of this film sold per year , the distributor decided repressing it without the extra was not financially practical. Most of the time it does boil down to money one way or the other but there are cases of stubborn rights holders who just don't want their material out there either at all or in the most practical way.
On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 4:21 PM, Reichert, Allen <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi all, > > I don't think this has one clear answer, but I had a student ask what > movies has faced the most copyright issues? My initial thought is *Eyes > on the Prize*. Would any of you have others that have faced more, or > perhaps more difficult issues? And, outside of documentaries, what about > feature films? > > Thanks, as always, > Allen Reichert > Electronic Access Librarian > Otterbein University > > 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.
