Agreed with Jessica. There's no reason why Bicycle Thieves would be PD these days.
Best regards, Dennis Doros Milestone Film & Video PO Box 128 / Harrington Park, NJ 07640 Phone: 201-767-3117 / Fax: 201-767-3035 / Email: [email protected] Visit our main website! www.milestonefilms.com Visit our new websites! www.mspresents.com, www.portraitofjason.com, www.shirleyclarkefilms.com, To see or download our 2014 Video Catalog, click here <https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0150/7896/files/2015MilestoneVideoCatalog.pdf?2223081985127089573> ! Support "Milestone Film" on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milestone-Film/22348485426> and Twitter <https://twitter.com/#!/MilestoneFilms>! On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 12:46 PM, Jessica Rosner <[email protected]> wrote: > Actually this has been known for a long time ( the titles being > copyrighted according to Corinth) though the Netflix element is new. > Actually Corinth can claim copyright on the titles so I suspect they will > win this. Unique titles have been one of the few ways an otherwise sound PD > film can by copyrighted, However what I find interesting here is that the > film should actually NOT be PD post the Supreme Court ruling on GATT which > did allow foreign films which had fallen in the public domain to be > copyrighted. I almost wonder if there a third party out there ( probably in > Italy) who might claim rights. > > Corinth has the rights through the estate of a man named Richard Feiner > who was a bulldog about protecting his titles but not unreasonable about > licensing them. > > As I side note Swank can license this and they have a contract with > Corinth > > On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 12:34 PM, Anthony Anderson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> FYI! >> >> >> http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/23/netflix-bicycle-thieves-sued-copyright-streaming >> >> Cheers! >> Anthony >> >> ******************************* >> >> Anthony E. Anderson >> >> Reference/Collections Librarian >> >> Doheny Library >> >> University of Southern California >> >> Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182 >> >> (213) 740-1190 [email protected] >> >> "Wind, regen, zon, of kou, >> >> Albert Cuyp ik hou van jou." >> >> ******************************** >> >> >> >> “Corinth Films claims the film site has been showing the subtitled >> version of Vittorio De Sica’s classic tale of poverty-stricken postwar Rome >> without obtaining rights >> >> Corinth Films, which claims copyright for Vittorio De Sica’s famous 1948 >> tale of poverty-stricken postwar Rome, has filed a suit in a New York >> federal court >> <https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2475269-bicyclethief.html>. >> According >> to the Hollywood Reporter >> <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/netflix-hit-copyright-lawsuit-classic-833908>, >> the company accepts that *Bicycle Thieves* is in the public domain in >> the US but suggests the subtitled version of the film, which Netflix has >> previously included on its service, remains under copyright. >> >> ‘At no time have defendants contacted the plaintiff in order to seek its >> license for the internet exhibition of the picture, either in whole or in >> excerpted portions,’ the complaint reads. ‘Despite lacking any rights to >> exhibit the English subtitled version of the picture, defendants act as >> though they have exhibition rights.” >> >> *Bicycle Thieves*, which is also known as *The Bicycle* *Thief *in the >> US, is considered by critics to be one of the greatest films of all time. >> In a 2008 review for the film’s re-release, The Guardian’s Peter >> Bradshaw described De Sica’s harrowing drama >> <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/dec/19/film-review-bicycle-theives> >> as a “brilliant, tactlessly real work of art”. >> >> The confusion over *Bicycle Thieves*’ status reportedly stems from a >> 1985 US court ruling in which a judge ruled the film to be in the public >> domain because neither side in a dispute over rights had taken the time to >> re-register its copyright. The judge said in his ruling that the subtitled >> or dubbed version might remain under copyright as a derivative work, >> leading to Corinth Films’ complaint. >> >> The company is claiming damages for copyright infringement and false >> designation of origin. It also wants an injunction on the subtitled version >> of the film. Netflix has not yet made any public comment on the case. >> >> *Bicycle Thieves* has also streamed on the UK version of Netflix in the >> past, though it is not currently streaming. “ >> >> >> >> 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. > >
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.
