Selling GS Episodes on Ebay

[chris319]

Personally, I'm confused by the whole thing - I thought TV shows were bought, sold and copyrighted as a whole - how a few episodes could be public domain is beyond me.

I think the notion that certain episodes are in the public domain is an urban myth.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'114900\' date=\'Mar 31 2006, 02:25 PM\']
I think the notion that certain episodes are in the public domain is an urban myth.
[/quote]
Especially since there isn't gonna be "just a few episodes" that did that....either the whole series is gonna, or it's not.

And since I'm guessing that if I tried to produce a television show that was a half-hour of Andy Taylor and Barney Fife jerkin' off on a dancing bear, I'd have lawyers knocking at my door tout suite, I'm gonna go with "not".

Personally, I'm with you, I think the people making this claim are speaking wholly ex rectum.

[The Ol' Guy]

To go back to an earlier question, correct me if needs be, but in my old DJ days, those record albums saying "Promo - not for resale" were copies I believe the companies set aside and paid no royalties to artists or publishers. The artists and publishers later shared in the money radio stations paid for ASCAP or BMI licensing fees. Everyone's willing to send them out gratis with the hopes the airplay will generate sales. So if one made a copy of a DJ sample, you've stiffed the company twice. The artists got nothing from it, and you didn't buy it.

[chris319]

ex rectum

I think this could prove to be one of the most useful terms on the Internet.

if I tried to produce a television show that was a half-hour of Andy Taylor and Barney Fife jerkin' off on a dancing bear, I'd have lawyers knocking at my door tout suite

The bad taste police would beat them to your door, followed by men in white jackets with butterfly nets.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'114904\' date=\'Mar 31 2006, 03:29 PM\']

ex rectum

I think this could prove to be one of the most useful terms on the Internet.
[/quote]
I only wish I could lay claim to it's origin. I read it elsewhere, long ago.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'114905\' date=\'Mar 31 2006, 06:30 PM\']
[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'114904\' date=\'Mar 31 2006, 03:29 PM\']

ex rectum

I think this could prove to be one of the most useful terms on the Internet.
[/quote]
I only wish I could lay claim to it's origin. I read it elsewhere, long ago.
[/quote]

I'm not gonna use that term until somebody checks to see if it is under copyright.

Visit your local dollar store.  You will find episodes of old shows put out by various companies.  Among game shows, I have seen YBYL and IGAS on the shelves, so there are some that are being mass-marketed by companies other than the copyright holders.  That's why I asked if anyone could shed some light on the subject. I'm not saying it's legal at this point, but you can also find them at stores the size of Wal-Mart as well, so they must have done some research to determine public domain status.

[mmb5]

[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' post=\'114903\' date=\'Mar 31 2006, 06:06 PM\']
To go back to an earlier question, correct me if needs be, but in my old DJ days, those record albums saying "Promo - not for resale" were copies I believe the companies set aside and paid no royalties to artists or publishers. The artists and publishers later shared in the money radio stations paid for ASCAP or BMI licensing fees. Everyone's willing to send them out gratis with the hopes the airplay will generate sales. So if one made a copy of a DJ sample, you've stiffed the company twice. The artists got nothing from it, and you didn't buy it.
[/quote]
Promos are considered property of the record company in perpetuity.  They could ask for it back at anytime, and allegedly, you would have to do just that.  We get hundreds of them a week at work, and I don't think we've ever sent one back.  However, we have now received the same Hispanic oriented DVD for the last five days straight.


--Mike

[Jimmy Owen]

Some of the record companies have changed hands or merged so many times that they probably don't know they lent the promo copies in the first place.  What of a group like "The Beatles," do you surrender your promo copy to Capitol, Apple or Michael Jackson?

[mmb5]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'114957\' date=\'Apr 1 2006, 07:05 AM\']
Some of the record companies have changed hands or merged so many times that they probably don't know they lent the promo copies in the first place.  What of a group like "The Beatles," do you surrender your promo copy to Capitol, Apple or Michael Jackson?
[/quote]

Don't confuse song writing with record publishing.  

Oh, they know, >60% of U.S. sales are controlled by 4 companies (Sony/BMG, EMI, Warner and Universal).  I get a list every week of the changes.

Beatles are EMI.


--Mike

[Ian Wallis]

Promos are considered property of the record company in perpetuity. They could ask for it back at anytime, and allegedly, you would have to do just that. We get hundreds of them a week at work, and I don't think we've ever sent one back.

As a frequent visitor to vinyl record shows, "white label promo copies" are fairly easy to come by - especially in the 45 rpm format.  It's probably unlikely that record companies would be concerned about old vinyl records these days, but a few of the promo 45s are worth some money.  Most are worth just what you'd pay for a copy of the commercial issue wherever you could find one.  

There have been books put out on the value of promo records, and there is a big collector market for them.  I've got a few hundred of them myself, but wouldn't try to sell them because I think they're neat to have.  A few do feature edits or special mixes of songs that weren't available commercially.