Current mood:

annoyed

It's a Wonderful Life under copyright laws
About "It's a Wonderful Life", from Brent Ashley: "It still says a lot that the movie only got its wings when freely distributed, and is now much less available."

The gist of the story is this: Once upon a time, this film was apparently allowed to lapse into to the public domain when a copyright extension was not filed on it. See, also once upon a time, you had a limited time to control a work under copyright, and a limited opportunity to extend that control. Not like now, where that control can be cryogenically maintained in perpetuity. Mickey Mouse will still be owned by Disney by the time we colonize the habitable nearest star, instead of being allowed to become a folk tale or common cultural asset like all those Disney appropriated for themselves to build a company.

Anyway, many small TV stations noticed this and hopped on it - a free, wholesome movie to show at Christmas time. So, exposure and fame spread for the movie until it became inextricably woven into the experience of Christmas - like it or not - for many Americans.

Then, in 1993, Aaron Spelling's Republic Pictures realized that they had a hold on the script on which the movie was based, and they controlled some of the music. So, they decided to exert control over the movie. Supposedly they wanted to get everything under control in one place, ensure quality, and "give the picture its due." Cynically, I assume that they wanted to cash in.

Well, after that, showings of the movie died, and the only network licensed to show the movie in recent times was NBC. It's a wonderful life [tm].