none said:
doubleofive wrote: The copy I've always watched on YouTube was taken down by Fox.
I guess Fox can do that on grounds of the Star Wars relationship, but it was a CBS program. What was the link?
Interesting, that. CBS and Fox are two competing networks, but in the 80s and 90s they had a partnership to release videotapes under the CBS/FOX logo (we all remember those, I'm sure). That partnership was dissolved in 1998.
But the point should be moot anyway, since a legal copyright transfer was recorded on May 5, 1989 from 20th Century Fox (who is recorded as the original owner) to Lucasfilm, back-dated to September 1st, 1981, giving Lucasfilm sole rights and ownership. From the United States Copyright Office records:
| Type of Work: | Recorded Document |
|---|---|
| Document Number: | V2457P108 |
| Date of Recordation: | 1989-05-26 |
| Entire Copyright Document: | V2457P108-304 |
| Date of Execution: | effective as of 1Sep81; date of cert.: 18May89 |
| Title: | Star Wars brochure & 132 other titles. |
| Notes: | Star Wars copyright transfer agreement. |
| Party 1: | Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Century-Fox Licensing Corporation & T. C. F. M. Corporation. |
| Party 2: | Lucasfilm, Ltd. |
| Links: | List of Titles |
| Names: | Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation |
| Twentieth Century-Fox Licensing Corporation | |
| T.C.F.M. Corporation. | |
| Lucasfilm, Ltd. |
And included in the list of titles is:
074 Star Wars holiday special; motion picture / PA 22-826 (1978)
075 Star Wars holiday special; teleplay / PAu 92-666 (1978)
So Fox really has no claim on this material. The fact that they did in the 80s (rather than just CBS) causes me to wonder if this was because they were going to release it on video in the 80s as a CBS/FOX VHS release. Lucas did mention something about this being in the works at the 1987 Star Wars 10-year anniversary convention. Perhaps he decided shortly after that he'd better secure the rights to this to keep that from happening, and hence the copyright transfer in 1989. It's mostly conjecture, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Anyway, the real question is: who does Fox (if it really was Fox) think they are, calling copyright infringement on something they don't own? Seems like only LFL should have that ability.
Maybe there's a legitimate counter-complaint here...
--SKot
P.S. - you may want to browse the whole entry, as it's pretty interesting. Both the "Baby Wookie" and "Grandpa Wookie" [sic] masks were registered...though oddly not Malla's mask. This may explain why we've only seen archive registry photos for the two masks.