Page of Madness distribution question

[Aaron Gerow]

On 2004.3.2, at 09:19 ??, MileFilms at aol.com wrote:

> I think the copyright law is 60 years in Japan now? -- it was just 
> extended a few months back to protect the great films from the 1950s. 
> And US copyright law depends on the first date of publication, it 
> doesn't matter which country it played in.

Copyright Law was amended last June to extend the copyright for films 
to 70 years. That means everything from 1934 on is protected. I hope 
Japan does not do something stupid and extend it to 95 years like in 
the US. Some have argued that one reason many old films in Japan have 
not been put out on DVD and video is because they are still under the 
copyright of big companies that have little initiative to try to market 
such marginal product--something a marginal producer would do if it was 
public domain.

Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu