Dear Aaron and others concerned about copyright and public domain films,<br><br>I've been reading your emails regarding the issue of public domain films in Japan, and I too have had a difficult time getting solid information regarding particular titles.<br>I tried to contact <b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;">Kadokawa Herald Pictures, Inc. at </span></font></b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></font><font face="Arial" size="2"><a target="_blank" href="Compose?To=info-licensing@kadokawa-herald.co.jp">info-licensing@kadokawa-herald.co.jp</a></font> regarding the license of two titles released in Japan by Daiei, and later released in the USA by American International Pictures (AIP.) I'm not sure if I will get an answer, and like Aaron alluded to in a previous email, I don't think that I will get results that will be helpful.<br><br>Perhaps you can advise
me to take another route? I was thinking that I should continue to (attempt) to find the AIP content holders/copyright-owners, that is, if there is such a contact. <br><br>Problem is, according to Internet scuttlebug, these titles are public domain -- but I have no way to verify if this is a legitimate claim. And companies like RetroMedia and Alpha Video are selling DVD's, but this only means that they are doing this (perhaps) without the copyright owners knowledge.<br><br>Oh yes, if you're interested in the titles that I am researching, here is the info:<br><div><div style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Gamera vs Monster X aka: Gamera tai Daimaju Jaiga (1970) <br> ON WEBSITE: <a target="_blank" href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0065755/">http://imdb.com/title/tt0065755/</a><br> <br> War of the Monsters aka Daikaij kessen Gamera tai<br> Barugon (1966)<br> ON WEBSITE: <a target="_blank"
href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0060446/">http://imdb.com/title/tt0060446/</a><br> <br> Please feel free to share this message with those that may<br> help, <br> Kind Regards,<br> Dean Lachiusa, email: deanlach@yahoo.com<br> </span></font></div> </div><br><b><i>Aaron Gerow <gerowaaron@sbcglobal.net></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> > If this is true then where are all the Japanese silent<br>> cinema download sites?<br><br>As Aidan said, there is probably just not enough interest around to <br>support such sites. It is not a question of time, because it was clear <br>to anyone that films made before 1952 were public domain even before <br>the 2004 amendment to the Copyright Law. This court case only confirms <br>that the amendment extending copyright applied only to films whose <br>copyright had not expired, and that copyright had expired for films <br>made in
1953.<br><br>There is also the problem of availability. While 16mm prints of old US <br>films are floating all over the place, that is not the case in Japan. <br>Not only did few films survive, but few of these have been made <br>available on VHS and DVD, let alone 16mm. I also suspect that just <br>because pre-1952 films are public domain, that doesn't mean you can <br>just go out and buy the new DVD of Oshidori utagassen and copy it for <br>sale (the version that includes the authoring, menus, etc. can be <br>copyrighted separately). You can do it if you have a film print, <br>however, which is what Matsuda Eigasha does with the old films in its <br>collection. I once talked with them about whether Shochiku ever <br>complained that they were selling a VHS of I Was Born But even though <br>Shochiku was as well. They said no, but given how delicate these things <br>can be, they did tell Shochiku before hand what they were doing.<br><br>This is probably another reason why
this doesn't happen much: Japanese <br>companies can be obnoxious about asserting their rights even when they <br>don't have them. It was kind of sad reading the comments of someone <br>from KineJun in the Mainichi article about this copyright case: he was <br>falling all over himself saying how bad a decision it was because, he <br>says, it will prevent companies from producing good DVDs of films (by <br>the same logic, public domain should be eliminated all together). The <br>industry position seems to be that protecting their rights protects <br>those of everyone.<br><br>Thus while the Film Center should do what the Library of Congress is <br>doing, and make available some of its early film collection for <br>internet download, I suspect they will never do it because they don't <br>want to ruffle any feathers in the industry. But who knows?<br><br>Aaron Gerow<br>KineJapan owner<br><br>Assistant Professor<br>Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and
Literatures<br>Yale University<br><br>For list commands, send "information kinejapan" to<br>listserver@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<br>Kinema Club: http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html<br><br></blockquote><br>