NBC Erases SNL Sketch From Digital Archive For Fear of Copyright Lawsuit

M.Nunez writes with a tale of copyright woes. From the article: "The digital 'Saturday Night Live' archive does not feature a recent Bruno Mars sketch because it includes impersonations of pop singers and their chart-topping hits. Bruno Mars sings several songs that are not owned by NBC, so it can be presumed that the company refrained from uploading the sketch into its digital archive to avoid any legal issues. Convoluted music licensing laws have essentially erased the Bruno Mars sketch from the digital archives of SNL. In the short comedy sketch, Bruno Mars impersonates vocal performances by Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Louis Armstrong, and Michael Jackson. The sketch cannot be found on NBC.com or Hulu, as a short clip or in either full editions of the episode."

It's all up to the individuals with their VCRs

[k6mfw]

to preserve artistic performances for future generations. Because the Big Four will never release footage of many performances (either because it isn't worth their while, or they are so scared that pirates will record and distribute for free or below cost). Really, such as VHS tapes made from 16mm film transfers of performances such as Jayne Mansfield playing the violin and another of her playing the piano on the Ed Sullivan show (yes, she really could play those instruments). A few people have copies of this (but they keep low profile to avoid attention from the Music And Film Industries Association), not sure if they ever will post on youtube (probably be taken down anyway). I've looked and see if Sullivan estates has this on DVD, apparently not as only sell Elvis, Beatles, Beach Boys. There are many other artists and music but have faded into obscurity, but probably be rediscovered by a 20-something musician rummaging through sheet music saved by some old timer from the 20th century. They will read the notes, thinking this is a brilliant piece of work and make a change in melody and release it as a "new" hit.