source for films & royalties

[ted harms]

1)
As I'm usually self-promoting my own shows, and trying to do with as little outlay as possible, I've been using archive.org for free films. Which has been fine, but they are limited, especially with regards to non-Hollywood films.

Are there any other sources for public-domain films?

2)
Are there are royalties due if I'm accompanying a dvd of a public domain film? i.e., let's say I buy the dvd of Orizuru Osen/The Downfall of Osen available on the dvd "Talking Silents 2"?


ted harms.

[Rodney]

1)
As I'm usually self-promoting my own shows, and trying to do with as little outlay as possible, I've been using archive.org for free films. Which has been fine, but they are limited, especially with regards to non-Hollywood films.

Are there any other sources for public-domain films?

2)
Are there are royalties due if I'm accompanying a dvd of a public domain film? i.e., let's say I buy the dvd of Orizuru Osen/The Downfall of Osen available on the dvd "Talking Silents 2"?


ted harms.

Well, no one else is answering, so I'll step in. Anyone else: If I step on anyone's toes in the following, please say "ouch" and correct me.

First: I am not a lawyer. But I've done some shows. And I wouldn't project anything that's been downloaded off the internet -- low resolution and ultra compression don't look good on big screens. Paying audiences deserve high-quality images, and if you want repeat audiences, I wouldn't even go to archive.org.

Using commercial DVDs of public domain films is a legal gray area, as far as I know. The DVD company located the source prints, did the transfer, often some restoration, selecting scenes from various prints, tinting, titles, and music (though that last doesn't apply in your case). Some of that may be copyrightable, and is certainly claimed as such, as you'll notice when you start up the DVD and read the FBI warning. Without that work, your project can't even start, so you owe them something. It's safest to talk to someone at the company and get permission, and pay to use it -- with luck, they'll be willing to give you a deal that's affordable, so you're both happy. A public domain film certainly should be cheaper than a copyrighted film.

Start by negotiating for one, particular show. "I want to screen your DVD with live music in the Chattanooga Community Center, which seats about 80 people, on February 5th as part of their Black History Month celebration." See what they say, and see if you can live with it.

Now, you could probably get away with showing public domain DVDs without asking, since I'll bet you aren't boasting about the source in your publicity, and who's to know. But in my humble opinion, it's not the right thing to do. And with certain titles, anyone in the know will know who did the restoration work. There's only one source for "Don't Change Your Husband," for instance, so if you show that, we'll know you're mooching off David Shepard's work. And if you ever get to a point where you'd like to be considered for video recording work on silent film releases, or you'd like to rent a copyrighted film, you don't want people having grudges against you already. And grudges are held: I've heard from video company people about certain musicians.

Some of the companies I talk to have a firm policy, and I can usually pass their costs along to the venue as part of the deal (I rarely self-produce my own shows). Any venue that shows movies, even from video, is used to booking/licensing/access fees of that kind. Some video companies will give me some leeway, "pay what you can," especially for tiny nonprofit community gigs where I may not turn a profit, but that's because I've worked with those companies for years on shows that have been reasonably profitable for them.

If you really want to avoid questions or dubious areas AND avoid paying for rights, acquire some 16mm films and a projector. There's never any question of needing to ask to show public domain movies from 16mm film. And I haven't done this for years, but when you rent 16mm films from the Museum of Modern Art, they include the rights to show the films (even if they aren't public domain) because of deals made long ago. But I'm not sure if that rental program is still functioning.

[urbanora]

The Talking Silents site has a page relating to rental rights for private viewing and screening rights for non-commercial purposes for its DVDs:

https://www.digital-meme.com/en/our_pro ... index2.php