It's A Wonderful ©
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
In 1946, America met everyman George Bailey, guardian angel Clarence, and the people of Bedford Falls in the classic film It’s A Wonderful Life.
Some on the so-called “copyleft” may argue that the film’s iconic status stems from perennial holiday season airings in the 1970’s and 1980’s on PBS and independent television stations (those not owned or affiliated with a television network).
The trigger for the repeated broadcasts was a simple clerical error – failure to renew the copyright.
Under the copyright law in 1946, copyright owners enjoyed their copyrights for 28 years. They could extend their copyrights for another 28 years by simply filing a renewal.
Whoever was in charge of that particular function dropped the ball, just like Uncle Billy did when he put $8,000 in a newspaper and absentmindedly handed it to Mr. Potter.
When the copyright for It’s A Wonderful Life failed to renew in 1974, television programmers took the view that the film fell into the public domain.
For the bean counters, this meant no license fees or royalties.
For the audiences, this meant wall-to-wall broadcasts on Christmas Day.
For the owners and creators, this meant a double-edge sword.
While It’s A Wonderful Life gained a new generation of fans and consequent popularity, it reminded copyright owners of lost financial opportunities.
Additionally, the film suffered creatively in the home video arena where public domain distributors cut out scenes and often used subpar masters to make VHS copies.
In the 1990’s, Republic Pictures fought hard to strengthen the copyright of It’s A Wonderful Life. They realized success because of the Stewart vs. Abend case.
The case boosts the copyright protection of a derivative work that falls into the public domain if the original work enjoys valid copyright protection.
It’s A Wonderful Life is protected because Republic owned a valid copyright to the original story, The Greatest Gift by Phillip Van Doren Stern.
That’s why the broadcasts are still perennial during the holiday season, but not numerous.
Coincidentally, Jimmy Stewart is the star of It’s A Wonderful Life and a major party in Stewart vs. Abend.