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Re: Scream & Copyright



Well, you can thank the whinny little brat president of the MPAA, Jack
Valenti for getting this organization involved in copyright matters. This
jackass is also trying to rid the world of "public domain" which keeps
companies like myself and the highly regarded Sinister Cinema in business.
As far as I'm concerned, if a copyright holder doesn't renew his/her
copyrights in the appropriate time span, it's their friggin loss. You
don't get a second chance to pay a lousy $25 parking ticket so why should
these people be given a second chance this late in the century? 

Let me move on before I get so damn mad that I explode....

>The basis of any lawsuit like the one being described in this 
>"Scream/Screamers" debacle is that a copyright has been infringed. Well, 
>as far as I have been made aware, you can't copyright a title. You can 
>copyright a logo, or a story, or a song lyric (but not a series of chord 
>progressions) but you can't copyright a name. Indeed there was a film 
>from 1979 called "Screamers," which had nothing to do with the 
>Canadian-produced 1996 film. (It wasn't THAT bad...) There was also a 
>1982 film called "Scream." It isn't the title that makes a film or 
>story unique, it's the actual story itself, and that is why people 
>have their work copyright protected; so others don't lift them and 
>pass them off as something original. But the concept of one film company 
>paying another to use a "similar" title?... Come on! Contact the 
>copyright office yourself and ask them if they have applications for 
>copyright protection of titles.

I have a packet/document of the copyright laws nationally and
internationally which I requested from the Library of Congress (free). It
clearly states that "titles" cannot be copyrighted. 

>If anyone has any legal know-how or more insight into these matters, 
>please post. My knowledge is based on my awareness of writing & 
>songwriting legalese, and some research I did into the film industry in 
>the mid-'80s. If "Scream" and "Screamers" had a similar story, then there

>would be grounds for a lawsuit. However, the two films couldn't be more 
>dissimilar. Is this for real or what?>>

This lawsuit shows just how bored people who have lots of money can get at
times. They're so rich they can't think of anything better to do so they
look for other ways of adding to their bank accounts. Hollywood is full of
greed. 


[8 lines left ... full text available at <url:http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/go?choice=message&table=05_1997&mid=1753947&hilit=COPYRIGHT+COPYRIGHTED+COPYRIGHTS+LEGAL> ]
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Article-ID: 05_1997&1737205
Score: 80
Subject: Re: Reconsideration motion to Judge Whyte--Granted