Existing comment:
The 1946 Film It's a Wonderful Life
After its theatrical release, It's a Wonderful Life didn't make back its production and distribution costs and as a result has a complicated ownership history. In 1948, Frank Capra and his partners sold Liberty Films to Paramount Pictures. The film's ownership changed several more times. By 1974, then-owner National Telefilm Associates (NTA) failed to renew the film's copyright, placing it in the public domain. With no royalty payments required, television stations aired the film extensively, while home video companies made copies widely available for rental and sale. It's a Wonderful Life reached entirely new audiences in its copyright-free period, but earned nothing for its owners. In 1993, Republic Pictures took over NTA and restored the copyright based on a Supreme Court ruling (Stewart v. Abend, 1990) involving another Jimmy Stewart film Rear Window. The following year, Republic signed a long-term agreement with NBC to air It's a Wonderful Life a few times annually, an arrangement that continues today. In 1998, Paramount regained ownership of the film and its home-entertainment business. |