first televised in 1959 is it copyrighted

[deltics]

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[AndyJ]

Take a look at the reply to this earlier thread as your question is somewhat similar:
http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk/forum/topic560.htm

[deltics]

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[AndyJ]

If you produce these programmes on DVD then you might own the copyright in that DVD edition, but this is a tricky area. What you describe is somewhat similar to a publisher who brings out an edition of a Shakespeare play in paperback, or a record company which releases a CD of folksongs. Neither the Shakespeare play nor the folk songs themselves would be in copyright, but the new edition/CD would be. However I'm not 100% sure if just changing the media format of the TV programmes from film to DVD would qualify as a sufficiently creative, rather than a mechanical, process, as there is no human creative or artistic intervention. This is unlike the edition of the play which needs to be edited, annotated and typeset (typographical layouts can be copyright in their own right), or the folk songs which need musical accompaniment and a singer (this is an artistic performance).
Assuming that you are considering this as a commercial venture you would be well advised to seek proper legal advice from lawyer specialising in interlectual property law, before committing yourself to any expense.
The other factor to bear in mind, as I mentioned in the reply to the other thread, is that your original act of copying these programmes onto film was only legal at the time while it was for domestic purposes. To use those original recordings now for commercial purposes might invite an allegation of copyright infringement. To avoid this, you might be advised to seek permission from the directors of the original productions, as they will in all probability have been the copyright owners whilst these broadcasts were in copyright.

[deltics]

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[deltics]

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[AndyJ]

Hi Deltics,
Thanks for the additional information on how this film came into your possession. I had assumed from your first posting that you had filmed the programmes from the TV screen (mainly because those were your actual words!). However if I understand the situation correctly, you have obtained the actual footage used to broadcast the programme (what I believe is called tele-cine) after it had been abandoned by the tv compnay which transmitted it.
That would not seem to be an infringement of copyright and so long as the TV company had genuinely abandoned the footage then your current ownership should be legal. But just as you can innocently buy a car which later turns out to have been stolen, and you the innocent party would be required to surrender the car to its rightfull owner, so the same might apply if the film you now own had at some time in the past been illegally acquired prior to it coming into your possession.
However, from what you have said that would seem not to be the case and you should be free to use this film however you choose. But as this is complicated, I do urge you to get proper legal advice.
I hope this helps.

[deltics]

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