none said:
generalfrevious wrote:
BTW, if someone brings up the LOC prints:
1. Do not have ROTJ as of this posting
2. The ESB print may or may not be the SE/ and is in worse shape than the copy of ANH
1. incorrect. Here's the LOC 'Return of the Jedi' public record:
Under 'Description; you'll read 35mm ref print. and under 'Acquisition Source' the date 6/15/83.
You are mixing up the general Library of Congress with the LOC's Nation Film Archive. Two separate organizations, under one roof. Almost all works published at least one or two copies are send to the LOC for archiving and copyright verification. The LOC-NFA is a recent body created to preserve currently considered 'culturally valuable' works. The public votes, so submit your vote for the Holiday Special today. http://www.loc.gov/film/
2. there are multiple SW and ESB's in the archives. the LOC has at least one, and the LOC-NFA has a different one. The ESB LOC-NFA print hasn't even arrived yet.
Unfortunately, the copies submitted to LOC for copyright won't be useful when the films become public domain. I doubt they even have proper film storage procedures for those (i.e. temperature, humidity control), they probably just put the cans in a box in a room. In fact, they probably are completely red right now and will never be useful for anything, even today. ROTJ might have been printed on LPP low-fade since it was introduced in 1982, but even if it was those are still not as reliable as people say, and they were only ever said to last for 75 years or so, which is less than a full copyright term anyway. Other than the Technicolor print and a handful of LPP prints, release prints of at least SW and ESB aren't archival and probably ceased being viewable or salvageable some time in the 1990s.