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Little-known Aspect of US Copyright Law Means Creators Can Reclaim Their Work

posted by Fnord666 on Monday November 11 2019, @06:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-take-backseys dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Little-known aspect of US copyright law means creators can reclaim their work

The Hollywood Reporter recently ran an article by Eriq Gardner entitled "Real-Life 'Terminator': Major Studios Face Sweeping Loss of Iconic '80s Film Franchise Rights," which is certainly an attention-demanding headline. Some of the franchise properties referred to in Gardner's piece are worth – without exaggeration – billions of dollars to the studios.

Money, in copyright-land, has the attribute of making things happen. Long story short, the creators of the original works underlying these now-classic films are making use of a relatively little-known (and little understood) aspect of US copyright law, known as "termination of transfers." Through this, creators can reclaim their rights from the studios to whom they sold them long ago (and perhaps sell them again, either to the same studios or to someone else).

Before we dive deeper into those particular film instances, we should back up a bit and look at the larger context of the two termination sections of Title 17 of the U.S. Code (comprising the US copyright statute) and what Congress had in mind when they inserted them.

There's no way, in a brief blog post, to substitute for a full study of this topic, but I'll provide a few helpful links along the way for readers who may wish to wade into the deeper end of this pool.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @12:59PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @12:59PM (#918909)

    Why? You reckon the hot air Runaway is so full with is finally enough to lift him off from this world?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @01:04PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @01:04PM (#918910)

    Wishful thinking, fren. Runaway has a concrete head, literally, as heavy and intelligent as a bucket of gravel bound with cement.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @01:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @01:21PM (#918913)

      Oh, I don't know. He's so full of hot air he farts from his fingers over intertubes into S/N.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @07:29PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @07:29PM (#919031)

        Looks like aristarchus has finally pushed the Runaway over the edge, and now he is submitting crap non-stop.

        Even if we lose we will have won, for our enemies have adopted our methods.

        Unknown Nazi Officer at end of WWII