Spaceship_small
Reputation: 1812
Follow 3
Follow 1

Is the original 1950s sci fi movie "The Thing form Another World" now in public domain?

I've heard that copyright runs 50 years for creative works. That means a lot of the classic SCI FI movies of the 1950s & through 1961 are now in public domain, right?

So, what does a group have to do if they want to have a fund-raiser showing old family-friendly movies?

O my captain asked in Film 7 months ago | Report

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…

1 Answer

  • Gold-head_small
    Reputation: 6000
    Follow 6
    Fnarf

    Nope.

    Figuring out what's in the public domain and what isn't is insanely difficult, but for films the copyright term was 75 years until 1998, when it was extended, largely at the behest of Disney, who don't ever want their stuff to go out of copyright. That means that any film from before 1923 is in the public domain, and virtually no films from after that date. They keep extending it, too, so chances are your favorite won't go off-copyright until 2047, by which time they'll probably have extended copyright another hundred years.

    Note that many post-1923 films have gone off copyright because the holders didn't renew; renewal is automatic now, but wasn't originally.

    The situation with recordings is a million times more complicated than this.

    More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_in_the_public_domain_in_the_United_States

    To license a movie to show, whether for profit or not, you have to go through a licensing company. Someone who knows the industry will be able to tell you more; perhaps you could call the Three Dollar Bill Cinema, the Fremont Arts Council, or some other org that puts on films, and ask them who they use.

    I was able to find online a company called "Swank Parks and Recreation Films" that leases films for small organizations. I have no idea about them -- they could be fantastic, or they could be evil ripoff merchants. But they list The Thing (1951 version) in their catalog. Sounds like it's going to cost you a couple of hundred bucks, though no exact prices are quoted on the website.

    http://parks.swank.com/index.html

    Fnarf answered in Film 7 months ago | Report
    Comment on this answer
    Share this answer with a friend: