I am one of those people that enjoyed seeing “It’s a Wonderful Life” at Christmas time. Remember when it was on TV, at Christmas, all the time? It might be on a couple of channels at the same time and might be on a number of times each day. Hell, it was on all the time.
I do not think I every got tired of seeing it at Christmas.
Then all of a sudden it was gone. It is rare to see it. You can not get it at Hulu. You can not get it streaming from Netflix. I do not feel like it is Christmas without watching “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Do you know why you do not see it at Christmas now?
“…Liberty Films was purchased by Paramount Pictures, and remained a subsidiary until 1951. In 1955, M. & A. Alexander purchased the movie. This included key rights to the original television syndication, the original nitrate film elements, the music score, and the film rights to the story on which the film is based, "The Greatest Gift".[N 5]National Telefilm Associates (NTA) took over the rights to the film soon thereafter.
However, a clerical error at NTA prevented the copyright from being renewed properly in 1974.[34] Despite the lapsed copyright, television stations that aired it still were required to pay royalties. Although the film's images had entered the public domain, the film's story was still protected by virtue of it being a derivative work of the published story "The Greatest Gift", whose copyright was properly renewed by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1971.[35][N 6] The film became a perennial holiday favorite in the 1980s, possibly due to its repeated showings each holiday season on hundreds of local television stations. It was mentioned during the deliberations on the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998.[36]
In 1993, Republic Pictures, which was the successor to NTA, relied on the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Stewart v. Abend (which involved another Stewart film, Rear Window) to enforce its claim to the copyright. While the film's copyright had not been renewed, Republic still owned the original film elements, the music score, and the film rights to "The Greatest Gift"; thus the plaintiffs were able to argue its status as a derivative work of a work still under copyright.[37] It's a Wonderful Life is no longer shown as often on television as it was before enforcement of that derivative copyright. NBC is currently licensed to show the film on U.S. network television, and traditionally shows it twice during the holidays, with one showing on Christmas Eve. Paramount (via parent company Viacom's 1998 acquisition of Republic's then-parent, Spelling Entertainment) once again has ancillary rights for the first time since 1955, while NBC's broadcast rights are licensed from Trifecta Entertainment & Media (which holds television distribution of the Republic/Paramount theatrical library, including the back catalog of DreamWorks, a studio which Paramount owned from 2006–2008).[38]
Due to all the above actions, this is one of the few RKO films not controlled by Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros. in the USA. It is also one of two Capra films which Paramount currently owns despite not having originally released it - the other is Broadway Bill (originally from Columbia, remade by Paramount as Riding High in 1950)…”
Any other Christmas movies that you recommend?
“A Christmas Carol” and “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947) are two that I love. What about you?
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