This link tells of the reasons that this is unavailable–except for those people who taped it :).
I think it’s ridiculous.
http://www.oz.net/~jhawk/lathe.htm
Ummm . . . huh?
What, exactly, are you pissed off about?
That PBS doesn’t have money?
That performers deserve to be paid for their performances?
That the link you gave hasn’t been updated in nearly two years?
Or that you don’t get to see the film?
-andros-
“Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!” Exceptions? None!
-Doc Bronner
I’m not “pissed,” just a little annoyed.
I searched for this on amazon.com, and the link I cited is where it led me.
Now for the other questions–no, I’m not pissed that PBS doesn’t have any money, whatever that means. That is a topic for another thread “Has PBS outlived its purpose?”
I’m not pissed that performers need to be paid for services. I’m “a little annoyed” that apparently there is not good record-keeping at WNET and others that shows who these people are.
I am “a little annoyed” that the link hasn’t been updated in two years. It indicates that WNET isn’t particularly interested in pursuing it–which is their right. I have no law background, so I don’t understand anything about “lapsed rights,” and why someone else can not secure rights if the original owner had chosen not to renew.
I was looking for a professional copy to replace my old worn-out taped-from-TV version. So I DO get to see it. 
I saw the PBS production of The Lathe of Heaven as a young lad, before I’d ever seen a picture of the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
The first time I saw the Sydney Opera House, I thought they stole the architecture from the aliens in Lathe of Heaven!
The truth, as always, is more complicated than that.