shows that are in public domain

[bk77]

exactly what shows are in public domain now?

I am pretty sure I Married Joan, Life of Riley, and The Golderbergs are. In the case of I Married Joan, I read on another site that Joan Davis gave all the rights of the show to her daughter Beverly Wills ( who played her SISTER on IMJ ) to support her in her old age. However Joan Davis died of a heart attack in 1961 and Wills burned to death ( along with her kids and Joan Davis' mother ) in a fire a few years afterward and the show fell into public domain not long afterward.

I could be wrong about this but in the case of Riley and the Goldbergs, I have heard that neither William Bendix and Gerturde Berg have no living relatives so as result both of their shows fell into the same arena.

What about a show that was once in public domain but no longer is? I heard this was the case with the 1960s sitcom The Mothers in Law with Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. In this case I believe Lucie Arnaz bought the rights to it and is still looking for outlet for thse shows to air.

 

[Braves2005]

I remember that in the mid 80's that CBN aired I Married Joan,along with My Little Margie,Love That Bob,Best Of Groucho(You Bet Your Life reruns),among others. I believe WOR in New York showed reruns of Life Of Riley well into the 80's.

I think that the main reason that all of the shows that I mentioned are falling into public domain is because of people thinking that these shows are old hat and aren't worthy to be shown again when in fact they need to be shown again.

Many other shows could be considered public domain. The Lucy Show being one especially the color episodes(the 1966-1967 season which is frequently sold at dollar stores). I don't quite know why both The Lucy Show and even Here's Lucy aren't seen but Lucie Arnez and Desi Arnez Jr. are letting these shows gather dust somewhere in a vault when they need to be shown again.

 

[mleach]

Many other shows could be considered public domain. The Lucy Show being one especially the color episodes(the 1966-1967 season which is frequently sold at dollar stores). I don't quite know why both The Lucy Show and even Here's Lucy aren't seen but Lucie Arnez and Desi Arnez Jr. are letting these shows gather dust somewhere in a vault when they need to be shown again.

Here's Lucy is actually available on DVD now, complete with comments by Lucie Arnaz and Desi Jr. Not by season but best of shows. However it was reported that sales while they were good, Lucie Arnaz wasn't happy that sales didn't go through the roof so there are no plans for any more editions of Here's Lucy. on DVD anyway.

As far as The Lucy Show, for YEARS there were rumors that Hallmark Channel was going to pick it up but it never happened. But I wonder if Lucie had a hand in this as well?

 

[bpatrick]

Having to get up early this past Saturday morning,
I saw I Married Joan and Ozzie And Harriet on i (PAX);
I've seen My Little Margie on American Life TV.

I remember back in the '80s CBN carried Burns And
Allen and Dobie Gillis in the early evening (7-8 PM).
I also remember WXIA carrying The Mothers-In-Law
around 5 or 5:30 in the morning, and sister station
KARE doing the same thing with Topper (some of the
ABC o&os used to run Topper in the wee hours of the
morning).

So I wonder if Ozzie And Harriet, Burns And Allen,
Dobie Gillis, and Topper are also in the public domain?

 

[mbayus]

What about dramatic shows that are in public domain? I know I have a bunch of them on DVD as well.

 

[jal41]

If I am correct, many of these shows are in the public domain because their copyrights were not renewed.

I am not familiar with copyright law, but I thought that prior to 1977, you had to renew the copyright every few years (like with patents). Since 1977, copyrights are permanent.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Markxxx]

Copyrights are not forever but they were extended greatly. Further it is often hard to decided just WHAT in a show is in public domain.

For instance one of the biggest headaches with WKRP In Cincinnati was securing the clearing for the songs in the background.

Because of legislation passed in 1998, no new works will fall into the public domain until 2019 when works published in 1923 will expire. In 2020, works published in 1924 will expire and so forth. If a work was written by a single author and published after 1977, the copyright will not expire until 70 years after the author's death. If a work was written by several authors and published after 1977, it will not expire until 70 years after the last surviving author dies.

Works published in the U.S. after 1922 through 1963 Initial term of 28 years. If not renewed during the 28th year, the work falls into the public domain.

But there are other reasons why shows go public domain. Failure to renew the copyright. Failure to renew it properly or the show was given to the public domain.

Many people have said certain shows like Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith certain episodes were let go into the public domain to secure interest in selling the REST of the series.

As you can see often the opening theme music is often NOT in public domain while the show is, so the theme must be replaced. And since public domain isn't clear cut the issues of whether it is or not covered often are decided in court

So now if you're a TV station would you want to risk going to court over a TV show. No you'd skip over it.

As for Here's Lucy, there really has never been a market for it. WGBO in Chicago Channel 66 tried it a lot but the show never caught on. Pax gave it a lot of publicity when the network signed on but it just is not a very good show. It is really HARD to watch.

 

[tjthedj]

You said;"So now if you're a TV station would you want to risk going to court over a TV show. No you'd skip over it."

No you wouldn't. There are several companies who market prints of public domain tv shows and old movies to broadcasters. There is a list 20 pages long.

WLLA in K'zoo shows alot of public domain stuff in between the religion. So does KNLC in St. Louis, MO. It's been a few years since I dealt with them for a tv station I programmed.

 

[tjthedj]

Check this out;
http://www.topiclink.com/info/article?page=5

 

[Markxxx]

You said;"So now if you're a TV station would you want to risk going to court over a TV show. No you'd skip over it."

No you wouldn't. There are several companies who market prints of public domain tv shows and old movies to broadcasters. There is a list 20 pages long.

WLLA in K'zoo shows alot of public domain stuff in between the religion. So does KNLC in St. Louis, MO. It's been a few years since I dealt with them for a tv station I programmed.

A lot of those lists are simply wrong. They are assuming the shows are in PD, but are not. And the only reason they are getting away with it is because no one challenges them.

I am active in OTR and you wouldn't believe the number of radio shows which are under copyright now and are sold over eBay.

Remember it costs money to defend a copyright suit even if you are right and the show IS in PD. So even if you win you lose.

 

[bpatrick]

I checked the link and it answered one of my
questions, concerning Bonanza. I have to believe
Robin Hood is in the public domain, as well as a
short-lived 1958 series with Buddy Ebsen called
Northwest Passage. My NBC affiliate, WNCN,
used to run those shows in the early '90s when
it was independent WYED and struggling for
programming.

 

[mleach]

I am active in OTR and you wouldn't believe the number of radio shows which are under copyright now and are sold over eBay.

Remember it costs money to defend a copyright suit even if you are right and the show IS in PD. So even if you win you lose.

very true !!

some of those famous announcers of the past and even today over the years have actually copyrighted their stuff even if they didn't own the station they worked at. Howard Stern I have been told owns all of his broadcasts from his WWDC/Washington and WNBC days. I have heard the same is the case with Rick Dees, Cousin Brucie, Dan Ingram, and even Crook & Chase.

I think it was reelradio.com ( or some aircheck site ) that ran into a problem with David Letterman when they featured an aircheck from the early 70s when he was spinning Osmonds tunes on local Indiana radio.

On the flip side of this, there are those who are well known today who really could care less if any of their "old work" pops online. John Tesh and Rush Limbaugh ( Jeff Christe from his Pittsburgh KQV days ) come to mind here.

 

[radiorob2.0]

It wasn't David Letterman but Howard Stern who ordered reelradio to remove material. There is a Letterman aircheck at reelradio from his days of college radio.

 

[bk77]

I can see Stern asking Reelradio to take down his old stuff since it really should not come as a surprise to anyone that his stuff is copyrighted however as far as 98% of the other jocks out there go, well I think that falls under fair use.

Until about a year ago a friend of mine used to run a site that features airchecks. Never had any problems, though one check was removed when the jock in question didn't want his old line of work be heard anywhere.
In the 80s he was a popular rock jock, today he is a minister. He believed it would be harmful to his chruch if they heard him on his old radio show promoting strip clubs and playing AC/DC so he asked the site to removed his old aircheck. My friend did as asked even though he could have left it online and the minister would have no legal say.

sorry to go off-topic

 

[FreddyE1977]

a local shoestring independent in Western PA (WBGN...operating on LP UHF on around a
dozen channels scattered throughout the region) was running Here's Lucy for a time.
The prints were of extremely poor quality.....looked like 4th or 5th. generation duplicates,
with muddy sound being overrun by sprocket-hole noise. I could not stand to sit through any of them.