November 20, 2009
 
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| The Christmas Classic that Almost Wasn't |
| by Ronald J. Rychlak |
| 12/24/08 |
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The other night, along with many other Americans, I watched the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life. Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, the movie has become a Christmas staple -- but it was not always that way, and how it attained its holiday status has as much to do with the intricacies of intellectual property law as it does with the storyline and the production values.
When it was released in 1946, It's a Wonderful Life was only a moderate success. The story was unusual for Christmas -- built around an attempted suicide by banker George Bailey (Stewart) and the rescue by his guardian angel, Clarence (played by Harry Travers). The movie was nominated for five Oscars, but it didn't win any, nor did not meet its financial break-even point. By the 1970s, the film was so largely forgotten that its owner (apparently inadvertently) let the copyright protection lapse.
All forms of intellectual property -- including films, writings, photographs, and recordings -- are protected by law for a certain period of time after they are created. If a radio station wants to play a recording, or a network wants to broadcast a film, the holder of the copyright is entitled to receive a royalty. After an extended period of time -- which varies depending upon the medium, but which certainly spans several decades -- intellectual property can lose its protection. When a song or movie remains popular and profitable, the copyright holder can extend the copyright, but many movies and songs are permitted to fall into the public domain.
That's what happened to It's a Wonderful Life. The movie had not yet become a Christmas classic when, in 1974, its copyright protection was allowed to expire. That meant that television stations could air it over and over without paying full royalties. (There were still some smaller, derivative royalties due on the storyline, but it is not clear that they were always paid.) For a period of time from the mid-1970s into the 1990s, It's a Wonderful Life seemed to be on several stations, several times each week during the Christmas season. In fact, one episode of the old television series Cheers even dealt with the movie's frequent airings.
These repeated showings, made possible by the termination of copyright protection, turned It's a Wonderful Life into the Christmas tradition that it is today. That, in turn, sent people searching for ways to capitalize on the film.
Videotapes of It's a Wonderful Life were produced by several different manufacturers. Since they did not have to pay full royalties or even get permission to use the images, any VHS producer could bring the popular movie to market, and numerous ones did.
The lack of copyright protection also made It's A Wonderful Life one of the most notorious subjects of colorization. It was originally produced in black and white, but by the 1980s, computer graphics could add color. The new colorized film could then be copyrighted. It's a Wonderful Life was released in three different colorized versions. Of course, colorization was an abomination to true movie buffs. I still remember reading the short blurbs in the Chicago Tribune TV section, back when Gene Siskel was the paper's main critic: Blurbs for the black-and-white version called it a heart-warming Christmas classic; those for the colorized version talked about despondency and attempted suicide.
You may have noticed that, in recent years, It's a Wonderful Life comes on only once or twice per Christmas season, and only on a major network (NBC). The original copyright holders managed to reassert their rights, something that is virtually unheard of. But the rights associated with the background music, as well as the copyright protection stemming from the short story on which the movie was based, had not yet expired. That gave Republic Pictures the hook in needed to reassert its control of the film. (Apparently, there was some attempt by other groups to avoid paying royalties by running the film without music, but it was disallowed by the courts.)
As a result, one of the great Christmas films of all time is once again protected by the law -- ironic, considering that it became a classic in significant part because it was legally unprotected. But God works in mysterious ways -- and sometimes the law does, too.
From Mississippi, best wishes for a blessed and merry Christmas.
Ronald J. Rychlak is the associate dean and MDLA Professor of Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is the author of Hitler, the War, and the Pope (2000) and Righteous Gentiles (2005). Readers have left 16 comments. Ron, thanks for this. It explains why the print quality was often so poor on TV, and on VHS and DVD. Only in recent years have I been able to watch a restored version and appreciate all of Capra's skillful direction. Funny, though, I have noticed noticed the soundtrack much, and I collect soundtracks. Guess I will have to watch it again, but I have an excuse, an 11-year old (12 in January) who has never seen it. Written by Deal Hudson I recall first seeing "IAWL" as a child, loving it, and then it seemed to disappear. Now I know that it did disappear, mostly. I would tell people about it, ask if they'd ever seen it and few people recalled it. I did work with the daughter of a well-known(at the time) Broadway set designer, and she knew it, because her dad had a film copy, set up a projector and played it every Christmas for the family and invited friends, because it was never on TV. Suddenly, it was everywhere! Now I know why. Thanks. Merry Christmas. Written by M pav Yeah, yeah, yeah, but what, pray tell, happened to the $8,000.00 Billy mistakenly gave to that mean spirited Lionel Fairbanks...huh? I didn't see him in the scene at the conclusion of the film. The film needs a remake! Written by R.S.Newark Thanks for solving the mystery for me. I saw It's A Wonderful Life for the first time in the late 70's, in Texas, in the middle of the summer - some friends and I were beating the heat inside watching movies, on AMC, I think (not sure). I remember loving it and us saying to each other,"What a great movie - where has it been all these years?!". Now I know! Merry Christmas! Written by meg So the real message of It's a Wonderful Life is not one of love and generousity, but make sure you get what's coming to you -- money. Forget all about giving that which is good to others, just protect your "property." Yes, let's be thankful for that. Not. Next, some fools will assert copyrights on the Bible instead of seeing it as a good to be given to others!! Oh, wait, some fools already do. Written by Bender Dear R.S. Newark ........ Mean spirited Mr. Fairbanks kept the money of course. No need for a remake because we already knew what he did with it. Written by Neal Here is an MP3 version of the story (Public Domain) with the original cast. http://tinyurl.com/7zc3uq  Written by Electricdisk This story has another lesson. What would our lives be like without abortion? Remember the the scenario: OK, George, you were never born. This adversely affesced so many other lives! How mush better would we all be, as a nation, if abortion were recognized once again as the heinous horror that it truly is. Written by John Haas Quote(9) So it's a wonderful life that cones on tv about once a year her December 24th, 2008 | 9:54pm One can see that a wonderful life comes around only once in this life time and this movie has been a lesson to remember,and has brought us great joy. This film has become a real Christmas staple over the many years since my family and I first saw it a very long time ago.Merry Christmas, And always have something good to say to people who do not agree with your opinion accept what ever arises and remain calm in any situation.You guy's , there'sno reason to get all steamed up. Hank F. Miller jr. From Kitakyushu, City ,Japan Written by Hank F. Miller Jr. I remember growing up and watching this great classic at Christmas with my grandfather and drinking a glass of eggnog before turning in. The local TV station would run it three or four times during the Christmas holidays. R.S. The old banker Henry S Potter was played by Lionel Barrymore. It has always been a thorn in many viewers' sides that Potter never was "caught" and that the injustice remained. Yet that was part of the realism in the movie and reflected on what life actually brought to people. The most important ingredient was the awareness of what was truly important and anyone who did not understand that by the end of the movie was considered a dour old goose. There are also some powerful Catholic images and themes that resonate throughout the film, not the least of which was mentioned in an earlier post on the sanctity of each person's life and the void that exists when we are not there to do God's will. The whole notion of working families having a home and the dignity of work are very Catholic themes. But one of the most striking in my mind was when the community was celebrating the completion of the Martini home. George and Mary present bread, wine and salt to the family at the doorstep. How Eucharistic is that! Some people of late have bashed the film, but I watched it again last night and it can be the subject of long and serious conversations on the nature and purpose of human existence. Those who rail against it, are unhappy with their own lives or lost in the foolish pursuit of the transitory and fleeting. So to Frank Capra, someone who believed in the importance of both the individual and the community, thank you for an enduring masterpiece that will continue to delight audiences for years to come. Written by John Jakubczyk John Jakubczyk. Small world I know you. Won't mention your personal information. Without too much info I saw you at a bowl game last year around this time. You were too far ahead of me to say hello. If you are the same person. Regardless, I agree with your comments, I might add that the Martini's crossed themselves reverently. I thought that was a nice touch. I totally resent the fact that this was yanked out of the public domain, and for that reason I refuse to participate in the faux events that NBC now concocts around the movie. Written by Andrea I once bought a movie library. No, not the kind of library movie studios own worth hundreds of millions, a public domain movie library. In the 1960's through 1980's, TV stations had a problem. They couldn't sell advertising to local merchants that would pay the costs of creating good, local content. Syndication hadn't arrived to fill the screens with Oprah and game shows like Wheel of Fortune. Stations would routinely shut down at 12 midnight and restart at 6 AM to save money. What to do? Some genius figured that if he rented a 35mm print of a film that had fallen into the public domain, played it for the TV audience and while on the same rental, made a copy with the station's 1 inch black and white video recorder, they could play the movie over and over -- for FREE. This made economic sense because with free content, the TV station could make a buck with local used car advertisements. The most famous of these films is "It's a Wonderful Life", but there were hundreds more. One thing your article didn't take into account is the way copyright has been systematically abused. Originally seen as a way to protect author's works "for a limited period of time", this has now been stretched out to 95 years, in some cases, which prevents many, many other works from falling into the public domain. Proving we have the best law makers money can buy. Written by Concerned Citizen Where is the irony? Yes, the movie was more available when it was in the public domain. Copyright restricts availability. Whena the movie became more popular, there was more reason for someone to want a monopoly on it. Written by Roger SNL had a great take on the missing $8000... Very funny and worth a look... http://tinyurl.com/5hfoxj Written by Daniel So there's hope that I can get my virginity back? Written by Mary |
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