First Few Doctor Who Episodes May Fall To Public Domain Next Year 216
First time accepted submitter wmr89502270 writes "Doctor Who is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The special The Day of The Doctor will be broadcast simultaneously in over 75 countries and hundreds of cinemas in the UK. Across the world the hotly anticipated special episode will be screened simultaneously in full 3D. According to Copyright law of the United Kingdom, the copyright in a broadcast program expires 50 years from the end of the year in which it is broadcast, which means the first episodes will fall to public domain next year."
Re:Although I must add... (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Doesn't mean you can copy it. (Score:4, Interesting)
I think you should go read the legislation. Scripts and music embodied in video do not lose their rights by being embodied in the video.
That's why music creators get royalties for every copy made.
Re:Although I must add... (Score:4, Interesting)
Thus, if the doctor becomes PD in the UK, that only means that it is PD with respect to uses (such as copying) performed in the UK. If it's not PD in the US at the same time, then you infringe on US copyright laws if you do the same in the US.
If you can copy it in the UK, then you have a valid legal copy there. Are you allowed to bring your valid legal copy into the US? If so, then it's in PD in the US, in that anyone can go to the UK, print 10,000 copies, and bring them back, right? If not, then the US law applies everywhere, but only is enforced when you are in the US. I wouldn't put it past them enforcing a law against making Dr Who copies in the UK while outside the country and bringing back no copies. Much like traveling out of the US to have legal sex and returning to the US is illegal in the US, and people are arrested for it (depending on some variables around the sex).
Re:Of course the actual copies existing is in doub (Score:5, Interesting)
The first serial (An Unearthly Child) survives and has been restored into pretty good condition. The second serial (The Daleks), also survives. The fourth serial (Marco Polo) is missing some episodes, and so are several of the later ones. Most of season 3 is lost (including all of four of the seven serials and most of several of them, such as The Daleks' Master Plan) and so are some important bits of Season 4 (including most of the last episode, when the first Doctor dies).
It's a very good argument for shorter copyright, as copyright holders apparently can't be trusted to ensure that our cultural legacy survives.
THEFT of intellectual property (Score:5, Interesting)
Why not, actually?
I mean, it's an equilibrium between the rights of the work's creator and the rights of the people: the people must forego their right to what has been added to their culture for a limited time, during which time the creator's income from distributing copies of the work is protected by the government.
After this period of time, the deal is that the people can freely distribute copies of that work of art. It probably works differently for e.g. sculptures than songs, but what's wrong with the following idea:
(*) If the work's creator doesn't cough up the work after having bought one or two extensions, sue them for ..... TADAA...
THEFT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
(I've been looking forward to using that expression in a context where it actually makes sense). For indeed, if you have a contract with your culture to enrich it with your work after profiting from it yourself for a time, and after that time you or your descendants don't live up to your end of the bargain, then you have indeed *stolen* intellectual property from its rightful owners, the society that nurtured your creativity.
I'd like to add that there should be no penalties if the creator didn't buy an extension and lost their source code in a harddisk crash; let that 14 year copyright extension be a signal that the work is of commercial value.
What do you think? (Especially if you're Rufus Pollock)
Re:BBC's most effective copyright strategy in effe (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Although I must add... (Score:4, Interesting)
and the EPA has been forced to write new legislation specifically to say "... We only have to make a new law about this because California rode the short bus on this stuff. Again.
Too bad you have that entirely backwards. We had shit for emissions standards in this country until California made a big noise about it. If you like breathing, thank California. Also thank California for acting as the trial for these problems. Los Angeles proved what happens if you don't have a strong EPA; things like children with bleeding lesions on their lungs simply from breathing the air happen. As well, the federal government prevented The People of California from implementing only in our state the automotive emissions restrictions for which we actually voted because it would do harm to their future bailout poster children. The truth is that only California is serious about environmental protection, and the rest of you just want to rape the land and shit in your neighbor's mouths through the air.
Re:Of course the actual copies existing is in doub (Score:5, Interesting)
It's unfortunate that the BBC were so shortsighted and "recycled" the master tapes of so many great series. Of course, everyone knows the famous Monty Python story of how that series was almost lost too, but was saved [chicagotribune.com] by Terry Gilliam (who basically stole the tapes and put them in his attic). But very few series from that era were so lucky.