Originally posted by: zombie84
Here is an interesting story:
In LA a man once owned a 35mm copy of Star Wars. He was a private collector of 35mm prints and had converted his garage into a screening room. The neighbourhood kids would sometimes gather in his garage and they would be delighted to a private screening of Star Wars, back in the days before home video was common. Somehow, wind of this caught up with Lucasfilm/the authorities. The print was confiscated and the man either jailed or fined, i can't remember.
The laws have sort of changed since then in light of the explosive growth of home video but its an interesting story nonetheless. I would say if it is a privately held screening then there is absolutely no problem with it--if it is a 35mm print then some complications may arise, especially if it is popular and the print is not a legally-obtained one (which it likely will not be).
Here is an interesting story:
In LA a man once owned a 35mm copy of Star Wars. He was a private collector of 35mm prints and had converted his garage into a screening room. The neighbourhood kids would sometimes gather in his garage and they would be delighted to a private screening of Star Wars, back in the days before home video was common. Somehow, wind of this caught up with Lucasfilm/the authorities. The print was confiscated and the man either jailed or fined, i can't remember.
The laws have sort of changed since then in light of the explosive growth of home video but its an interesting story nonetheless. I would say if it is a privately held screening then there is absolutely no problem with it--if it is a 35mm print then some complications may arise, especially if it is popular and the print is not a legally-obtained one (which it likely will not be).
That's because, in general, 35mm prints are illegal to own. If you've ever looked on eBay for films, you'll see that they don't allow 35mm or 70mm prints to be sold. We were discussing this a while back in another forum- but actor Roddy McDowell's home was raided in 1974 and had his collection of 35mm prints seized by the FBI.
here