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Posted by: Mike Mashon
One of our very earliest Now See Hear! posts was about our wonderful collection of the copyright descriptions that accompanied films submitted for registration starting in 1912. At the very end we noted “several years ago we digitized many hundreds of the microfilm reels onto which the descriptions were originally transferred, and we’re looking for …
Posted in: Copyright
Posted by: Amanda Jenkins
Reference librarians in the Recorded Sound and Moving Image Research Centers get hundreds of questions each year about materials in the public domain. For films, which follow the current 95-year restrictions along with many other types of publications, the answer is fairly straightforward: if it was published before January 1, 1924 (as of January 1, …
Posted in: Copyright, Recorded Sound
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Yesterday was a pretty momentous day in America, and not just because so many of us got a head start on breaking New Year’s resolutions. It also was a significant milestone in the history of intellectual property rights for a variety of expressive works, including motion pictures. Put simply, motion pictures with renewed copyrights published …
Posted in: Copyright, Film/Video
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson, an Administrative Assistant at the Packard Campus. Friday, September 9 (7:30 p.m.)—SOLD OUT!!! The Malpass Brothers Live in Concert Christopher and Taylor Malpass’s smooth vocal blend and skillful musicianship layer infectiously into the deep respect they pay to legends who have paved the way. The Malpass …
Posted in: Advertising, Christmas, Copyright, Early Recording Industry, Uncategorized
Posted by: Mike Mashon
The following is a guest post by David Gibson, a Processing Technician in the Moving Image Section. The Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation has welcomed hundreds of visitors from all corners of the globe since its opening more than nine years ago. This year alone we hosted the 10th Orphan Film …
Posted in: Copyright, Video Games
Posted by: Cary O’Dell
Last year the Library published The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912-1929, a sobering reminder of the astonishingly poor survival rate of this one sliver of motion picture history. And it’s not just silent features either. Although no comprehensive study has been done of shorts, features, and documentaries across all of film history, the …
Posted in: Copyright, Motion Pictures
Posted by: Mike Mashon
There’s lots of reminiscing in the Moving Image Section today about Robin Williams. My younger colleagues first remember him from Aladdin (1992) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), for others it was his Eighties films Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), and for folks of my generation, he’ll always be a little bit Mork. …
Posted in: Copyright, Motion Pictures, Television
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Last week my colleague Daniel Blazek told the interesting story of how the Library came to acquire audio transcription discs of 1960s-era Tonight Show broadcasts via the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Of course, the very existence of these discs is, to say the least, unexpected—record discs of TV show audio?—and given the preservation …
Posted in: Copyright, Film/Video, Television
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Like a lot of boomers, The Brady Bunch (ABC, 1969-1974) was a beloved television show of my early youth. It was easy to envy the Bradys. They lived in a large, airy house with a big kitchen, a magnificent open staircase, and, especially, a yard made out of artificial turf. Occasionally a celebrity like Joe …
Posted in: Copyright, Television