Hi Pav, I have a question what is the public domain, i have herd one time about, and how does it work? How does a show get into the public domain and how long does it stay their? what types of tv shows are in it? Thanks


from joe

public domain means that the copyright has expired and that no one has picked up the rights copyrights if im not mistaken uslly last 28 years alot of songs movies and tv shows from the 50s and 60s fall into this catagorety well hope this helps

This happened with the original Dragnet TV series from the 1950's. For some reason Universal only renewed the copyrights on 100 episodes out of 276 which leaves the rest in Public Domain. Several of these are available on VHS and DVD from places that specialize in this. However they also include a few that the copyright was renewed on, so go figure on that one.
I can't figure why a company (or person) would pay for the orignal copyright on series and then let it expire, unless they feel that no one wants to see it anymore and therefore it would not have profit potential. And, lets face it, with most shows pre-1982 there are not any home taped copies flying around the trading circuit, so if they still own the prints to the show, they can still hold the reins on it and keep it from being viewed (i.e. Amos & Andy, and the B&W version of Dragnet).

i wish i knew the answer to that one myself

Originally posted by storrs19
And, lets face it, with most shows pre-1982 there are not any home taped copies flying around the trading circuit

I'd say more pre-1975, when the first home VCR came out. I'm sure someone out there taped stuff back then.