The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: JMFabiano on December 04, 2012, 06:12:02 PM

Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: JMFabiano on December 04, 2012, 06:12:02 PM
Looking at some of the DVDs our library is going to catalog, I noticed a collection of B/W game shows including the Goodson panel show Big Three.  Now this isn't the first time Goodson content found its way to public domain collections.  So I was wondering how parts of the library went to the PD?
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: chris319 on December 04, 2012, 07:16:35 PM
Big Three: never heard of it.
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: clemon79 on December 04, 2012, 07:46:24 PM
Big Three: never heard of it.
Just guessing: To Tell The Truth, What's My Line, I've Got A Secret.
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: JMFabiano on December 04, 2012, 08:37:18 PM
Big Three: never heard of it.
Just guessing: To Tell The Truth, What's My Line, I've Got A Secret.

Yep!
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: Tim L on December 04, 2012, 10:48:11 PM
There's been a few episodes of WML?, TTTT, and IGAS on bargain DVD's for quite awhile..I bought Game Show Classics from PC Treasures with the above mentioned plus Twenty-One, Tic Tac Dough and Queen For A Day..

I also have the Classic Game Shows and More Set from a few years back.
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: chris319 on December 04, 2012, 11:21:11 PM
Big Three: never heard of it.
Just guessing: To Tell The Truth, What's My Line, I've Got A Secret.

Yep!

If that's the case, the way you write it is "the big three Goodson-Todman panel shows" with "panel shows" pluralized.
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: Jimmy Owen on December 05, 2012, 10:14:31 AM
Before a certain date,(I think it was the mid-60's) if a copyright notice was not visible on screen during credits, the show (movie, etc) fell into the public domain and could be copied freely.  That's how the original "Night of the Living Dead" was in the public domain, no dated copyright notice.  If the show ran long and there was no dated copyright notice, that's probably how it happened.
Title: How did episodes of the Goodson library make it to PD?
Post by: rjaguar3 on December 05, 2012, 07:33:21 PM
Before 1978, works that were not "published" according to federal copyright law were subject to state law until they were published, at which point, if they had a copyright notice, they would be subject to federal copyright law.  Works "published" before 1964 had to be renewed 28 years after the date of first publication, or they would enter the public domain.

However, although it is not clear under the 1909 Act, courts have ruled that merely broadcasting a work to the public does not constitute "publication."

Nevertheless, the 1909 Act also allowed unpublished works to be registered with the Copyright Office to obtain federal copyright protection.  In such a case, the date of registration of such a work is considered to be the date of first publication for the purposes of determining both the length of the copyright term and the year when the copyright had to be renewed (if at all).  Therefore, if an unpublished work was registered with the Copyright Office prior to 1964 and was not subsequently renewed, it is now in the public domain.