You Tube video of a 30yr old Movie blocked by MGM

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cyril7

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#92949 9-Nov-2011 20:57

Today on my way to work I spotted a LP cover in a shop front, it was of Barbra Streisand, it was amongst a collection of other LP covers from the early 80s as part of a shop decoration. The sight of this brought back memories of a movie, Yentl, that made a big impression way back then, primarily the music.

Tonight with my memory refreshed of the past I did a quick search on Yentl and found a number of youtube clips from the movie and a number of concerts that Ms Streisand had done since and recited songs form that movie.

To my dismay I found that MGM had decided that many of these clips were not allowed in our region, but why, these are 30yrs+ old, exactly how many $ do these decrepit old movie execs do they think they will wring out of the NZ public.

Clearly its time to do something illegal, wish me luck

Cyril

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#543343 9-Nov-2011 21:21

Is MGM only the rights holder in Amercia? (Which means that they've had to geo-restrict their Youtube uploads to America only?

Find out who the NZ rights holder is (heck, it may even be a slightly different division of MGM), and ask them to provide legal ways for a modern New Zealander to view it.

cyril7

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#543380 9-Nov-2011 22:04

Hi, dont care about the details, just for a moment think I am your mom and dad wanting to happily pay for a distribution of this, then it all stops with a menacing legal barrier.

End of story, internet becomes a bad place for the wrong reasons.

Sorry, big fail

Cyril

Ragnor

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#543405 9-Nov-2011 23:05

Larger version: https://cdn.geekzone.co.nz/imagessubs/7ebbce9c50b0492c6270fbd0e065d12a.jpg

Source: Wikipedia

hamish225

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#543420 10-Nov-2011 00:55

I suppose copyright length has to increase with peoples life expectancy?

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

jpollock

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#543456 10-Nov-2011 08:44

Copyright in NZ tends to be for a longer term than it is in the US. In NZ, the copyright on the movie is 50 years from the creation of the movie. However, there are additional rights as well. The scriptwriter, composer and choreographer all have the right to prevent the copying of the movie, and those rights are life + 50.

So, while Casablanca was filmed in 1942, and therefore the movie came out of copyright in 1992, you can't copy it until 2050, because the last scriptwriter didn't die until 2000. That means that while it will come out of copyright in 2037 in the US, it doesn't come out until 2050 here in NZ...

In NZ, copyright is transitive for the first level...

What you can do is create an adaptation of the movie (not the script, music or dancing), since that right isn't transitive. So mashups and sampling are easier in NZ.

Yentl was made in 1983. I don't know US copyright law, but it seems that it's 95 years for works of corporate authorship. That makes it available in 2078. However, in New Zealand, works of corporate authorship have the length of protection that the individual authors would have. Therefore Yentl won't be available until:

Scriptwriters: Streisand and Rosenthal - Streisand isn't dead yet, therefore unknown.
Music: Not dead yet, therefore unknown
Choreography: Not dead yet, therefore unknown
Movie: 2033

Although, it does look like Yentl was done by a bunch of people in their 60's, so it's likely to come out of copyright in NZ before it does in the US.

So, yeah, NZ copyright law is even more obscene than US law. :)

There is no reason to have a variable length term on copyright. With the number of works created, it is much, much easier to put an upper bound on the date of creation than it is to track down all of the authors of a work. The inability for creators to be able to look at a work and determine easily if it is in or out of copyright is a major problem with the current copyright system.

---
http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

cyril7

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#543469 10-Nov-2011 09:02

thanks for the heads up there Jason, dunno if I will make 2033 :)

Cyril

bazzer

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#543609 10-Nov-2011 12:43

You could buy it on iTunes for $12.99?

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

cyril7

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#543611 10-Nov-2011 12:48

Hi Bazzer yep done, but I think what got me was the notification of a youtube except being notified and blocked, seemed a little odd.

Cyril

gzt

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#543622 10-Nov-2011 13:09

Even trailers for this movie are blocked in NZ. This is just silly.

Maybe Cyril was referring to circumventing the terms of service (eg; using a vpn) to view the trailer in NZ. That is not actually illegal, so far.

It is a very well made and detailed movie, easily worth watching at least once. I have it on VHS.

Since the trailer is not available, I cannot resist posting a substitute (with apologies to Cyril), which has a similar plot:

DonGould

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#543641 10-Nov-2011 13:29

How much is this about protecting our local industry?

If local customers spend all their time watching .us movies then your eyeballs are not focused on Shortland Street.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

cyril7

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#543642 10-Nov-2011 13:31

Good one gzt :)

Cheers

Ragnor

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#543790 10-Nov-2011 15:36

Alice in Wonderland was written in 1865 and is in the public domain, there have been how many successful moveies, cartoons, video games over the years using this story/content as the basis.

Things like the story/concept of Mikey Mouse should actually be public domain by now, however millions have been spent on lobbying and funding political campaigns by Disney to prevent this.

Copyright is NOT a natural right, it is a contract between content creators and society.

We give you a TEMPORARY monopoly on distribution and you give back to the public domain.

Big content creators have moved the goal posts by successful lobbying to extend copyright length, they shouldn't be surprised when society begins to lose respect for copyright.

crackrdbycracku

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#548015 21-Nov-2011 18:30

Look I'm not trying to be a troll but...

I think what we all want is a fair copyright system where people who create get paid. That is why VPN + NetFlix or Hulu is taking off here. We don't want to be pirates and we know what services there are in the US so we see anything that is less than that, iTunes for example, as unfair.

Sadly, what we got instead was a three strikes law. Yahh!

So, and I am having a hard time writing this, is Google et al (ie YouTube) the answer?

Larry Page and Sergey Brin are pretty much on record as saying they don't 'get' copyright. They don't understand its utility and think it is silly and 'so last century' etc.

YouTube is the biggest pirate site on the planet. If your stuff is on there it is your responsibility to contact them to get it taken down, they don't see themselves as responsible for the stuff on YouTube.

So, it this the bitter pill we need to swallow?

Or more correctly is the bitter pill the creative industry needs to swallow this:

Come up with an actually system that people think is fair and that gets creators paid, or pretty soon it will all be on YouTube and you won't get paid anyway.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

DonGould

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#548029 21-Nov-2011 18:50

I want to know how to configure my Mikrotik router to pick up a vpn tunnel off my .us vps and let me route all nickjnr.com traffic over the link.

It's now annoying me that New Zealand FTA TV stations pick up content from .us but don't ensure that the net content is also available to users here.

I don't want to route all my local traffic via my vps, but just want to make a selection.

Promote New Zealand - Get yourself a .kiwi.nz domain name!!!

Check out mine - i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz - don@i.am.a.can.do.kiwi.nz

Ragnor

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#548037 21-Nov-2011 19:05

crackrdbycracku:

Come up with an actually system that people think is fair and that gets creators paid, or pretty soon it will all be on YouTube and you won't get paid anyway.

The legacy physical distribution and publishing industries are doing worse but are creators and artists doing worse? Is there even a problem to fix?

Youtube is free publicity for artists just like radio is for music. Often I watch movie trailers, game trailers and gameplay videos and then go to the cinema or buy new games on steam as a result.

Have you seen this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njuo1puB1lg

and this too
http://vimeo.com/5229486

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