How Websites are Helping to Spread the Joy of Classic Films
Posted by Layla Caltier in Uncategorized, tags: actors, actress, classic cinema, classic films, classic movies, film, movie reviews, movies, UncategorizedEnter any Blockbuster in any town in the country and you will for sure encounter all the latest Hollywood hits, or horrors, depending on how you look at it. What is far scarcer and perhaps nonexistent on the shelves are the classic films, hits like Ma and Pa Kettle or Laurel and Hardy that you could sometimes catch on late night television when your parents thought you were asleep.
This sad, sad lack of availability is leading to a whole generation of viewers who have no idea who Swamp Thing is, who believe that Edward Cullen is the hottest vampire on the block and to whom Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and (sob) Cary Grant are just names their parents whispered about when they wanted to watch something lame.
Here’s the good news. Thanks to the wide, wonderful world of copyright protection, many of these films are now entering the public domain, introducing viewers who consider M*A*S*H to be classic TV to what it really means to be a Hollywood star.
Just what is Public Domain and what does it All Mean?
The public domain is the arena films play in when there are no intellectual property rights at all influencing how they can and can’t be used and distributed. This makes it convenient for websites to distribute these classic films on a wide-scale without the huge overhead costs associated with royalties and the like.
What does that mean for you, the viewer, the person who’s going to be talking about these movies for weeks afterward? Websites like Hulu and Amazon pay some pretty stiff licensing fees to be able to put copyrighted material up on the web. As a result, your selection is fairly limited. More obscure films don’t make the cut. And film buffs everywhere are left grinding their teeth and going out on eBay to hope someone has an original vintage copy they’re trying to get rid of.
Please. Like any self-respecting film fanatic would sell a vintage copy of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” to just anybody. Not, you know, that I looked or anything.
The Fact is the Internet IS the Public Domain
The internet is a fabulous invention because it opens up entire worlds in terms of public domain and makes all that is on the internet available to everyone, everywhere at whatever time they choose to surf.
Using the power of something that quite frankly, if you’re sitting there reading this article you probably use on a daily basis anyway. And thanks to public domain and the Internet, it’s now possible for a new generation of viewers to see the classics, in their original form, instead of these random remakes out there painting vintage films with a whole new face.
Expand your horizons. Earn the title of “film buff”. And show your kids there’s a world beyond Twilight and the Green Lantern. When you’re looking for a film for your next movie night, resist the urge to grab whatever’s hot at Blockbuster (or Amazon) and hop onto the web to see what classic film opportunities could be sitting at your fingertips.
In the event you enjoyed the previous article, you could go and check out additional related writing at Loving the Classics Reviews or this Loving the Classics Blog Post.
Entries (RSS)