Go into any movie rental store in any town anywhere in the country and you are sure to find the latest Hollywood hits (good or bad) in the most prominent spot. What is far more difficult if not impossible to find are the classics, films like “The Thin Man” or “My Little Chickadee” that you used to surreptitiously watch as a kid when you were supposed to be asleep.
This sad, sad lack of availability is leading to a whole generation of viewers who have no idea who Swamp Thing is, who believe that Edward Cullen is the hottest vampire on the block and to whom Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and (sob) Cary Grant are just names their parents whispered about when they wanted to watch something lame.
Do not despair. Because of copyright protection, many of these films have entered the public domain introducing new viewers who only know about classic television to the far wider world of the silver screen classics and what stardom really means.
Just what is Public Domain and what does it All Mean?
The public domain is the arena films play in when there are no intellectual property rights at all influencing how they can and can’t be used and distributed. This makes it convenient for websites to distribute these classic films on a wide-scale without the huge overhead costs associated with royalties and the like.
What does that mean for you, the viewer, the person who’s going to be talking about these movies for weeks afterward? Websites like Hulu and Amazon pay some pretty stiff licensing fees to be able to put copyrighted material up on the web. As a result, your selection is fairly limited. More obscure films don’t make the cut. And film buffs everywhere are left grinding their teeth and going out on eBay to hope someone has an original vintage copy they’re trying to get rid of.
Come now, like any genuine film aficionado would part with “Metropolis” let alone sell it to a complete stranger.
The Internet IS the Public Domain
The internet is a fabulous invention because it opens up entire worlds in terms of public domain and makes all that is on the internet available to everyone, everywhere at whatever time they choose to surf.
The power of the internet is there for the taking and millions of people “take” it every day. Because of the public domain and the internet, a new generation of film watchers are able to see the classics as they were meant to be seen, not in some producers idea of a remake that rarely hits the mark.
Expand your horizons. Earn the title of “film buff”. And show your kids there’s a world beyond Twilight and the Green Lantern. When you’re looking for a film for your next movie night, resist the urge to grab whatever’s hot at Blockbuster (or Amazon) and hop onto the web to see what classic film opportunities could be sitting at your fingertips.
For those who liked the above article, you can go and look at additional comparable content at Loving the Classics Reviews or this Loving the Classics Reviews Blog Post.