The Curious Copyright Case of "It's A Wonderful Life"
J Thoendell stashed this in Film
Source: YouTube Video
It's A Wonderful Life has become a holiday tradition bolstered by near constant plays on television as the film fell into the public domain in 1975. But in the 90s, a studio would regain control over the film and put copyright to the test.
Stashed in: Intellectual Property, Sesame Street, Christmas, Muppets!, Film
Fascinating story. It's popular because it got overplayed in the 1980s because it was public domain.
Yes. Because it was a box office flop, it became public domain.
That made it free to run over and over, and as more people saw it, they liked it and wanted to see it again the next year. Which made the movie worth something.
Fun fact: Jim Henson got muppet names Bert and Ernie from the movie.
I didn't know that, one of our cats is named after Bert, nice to know his history ;)
Today I learned it's just a rumor but never confirmed:
Bert is a sweet name for a cat.
8:55 AM Dec 19 2014