Not quite what you’re thinking.
Specifically the “rights” aspect.
I can think of a number of TV programs, movies, etc that either have never been released to video, or are no longer in print (and I would like to add to my collection).
The original films probably still exist in someone’s archives. I know that a lot of stuff has been lost, but I’m not talking about that.
If I wanted to get some copies of something, the “owner” probably would not just be willing to copy the film over to video, would he?
Who all has to get involved to get something like this accomplished, and should it cost a lot for something that has no demand?
The reason it costs a lot is because everyone has the right to get paid residuals every time it gets used.
Being a fair-minded person and a believer in the concept of intellectual property, I once called Broadway Video (they do the Saturday Night Live videos) to see how much it would cost to show a skit from a recent SNL broadcast to a private meeting. IIRC it was about $1,000, because it was from the current season, and NBC still had first rights to the shows.
Needless to say, I made other arrangements.
You’d have to figure out who has the rights to the video. That’s a rather daunting task.
There are places that sell and rent obscure video, some on the Internet. Try this: http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Video/Shopping_and_Services/Retailers/ .
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
www.sff.net/people/rothman
If you can swing this, run me off a couple hundred copies… there’s a market out there!
Recent polls revealed that some people have never been polled, until recently.
If you ever need to know who owns the rights to something, contact the harry fox agency in new york. that’s pretty much all they do, handle rights.