Why <i>Wonderful Life</i> Comes but Once a Year
It's a Wonderful Life aired on television last weekend--one of its
only 1999 broadcasts. Just a few years ago, the movie seemed to be shown on a
different channel almost every day throughout the Christmas season. What
changed?
U.S. copyright law determines who may distribute, display, or reproduce a
film, a book, a drawing--essentially anything "fixed in a permanent medium," as
the lawyers like to say. Works not covered by copyrights--including ones with
copyrights that have expired and those that never secured this protection--are
said to be in the "public domain." These works, like the near-ancient Sherlock
Holmes stories and some of Charlie Chaplin's silent films, can be reproduced,
broadcast, and sold freely.
It's a Wonderful Life entered the public domain by accident. In 1946,
when the movie was filmed, U.S. copyright protection lasted 28 years and could
be renewed for another 28 years by filing some paperwork and paying a nominal
fee. However, Republic Pictures, the original copyright owner and producer of
Wonderful Life , neglected to renew the 1946 copyright in 1974. So, the
film entered the public domain. Though a box-office flop on release, it became
immensely popular on television thanks to repeated showings: Stations
programmed it heavily during the holidays, paying no royalties to its
producers, and more than 100 distributors sold the movie on tape.
Republic regained control of the lucrative property in
1993 by flexing a new Supreme Court ruling that determined that the holder of a
copyright to a story from which a movie was made had certain property rights
over the movie itself. Since Republic still owned the copyrighted story behind
It's a Wonderful Life and had also purchased exclusive rights to the
movie's copyrighted music, it was able to essentially yank the movie out of the
public domain: It claimed that since Wonderful Life relied on these
copyrighted works, the film could no longer be shown without the studio's
blessing. (Technically, the film itself is not copyrighted. One could
hypothetically replace the music, rearrange the footage, and sell or show the
new product--but no one has done this.) In 1994, Republic* signed a "long-term"
deal granting NBC exclusive rights to broadcast the movie, and the network
typically does so between one and three times a year.
Wonderful Life won't re-enter the public domain for quite a while.
Congress has repeatedly expanded copyright protections and made them effective
retroactively. Most recently, at the behest of Disney and other large media
corporations with soon-to-expire copyrights, Congress added 20 years to all
existing copyright claims. They now stand at 95 years for copyrights held by
corporations. (The copyright protection for individual writers and artists
lasts 70 years beyond their deaths.) Thus, showings of Wonderful Life
will remain limited well into the 21 st century.
*In 1998 Republic's parent company, Spelling Entertainment (a subsidiary of
Viacom), sold the rights to Republic's film library to Artisan
Entertainment.
Next question?
