RE:

From: GROVES Peter <PeterGROVES[_at_]bdb-law.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 12:10:06 -0400

As far as the UK is concerned, I must begin with two health warnings: first, this is not legal advice, just an indication (I'd be happy to talk about legal advice with you off-list), and secondly this area of our copyright law is acknowledged to be a mess.

The short answer is yes and no. In fact, there can be no copyright in a film made before 1 June 1957: the 1911 Copyright Act protected films indirectly as dramatic works and strips of photographs, plus other "embedded" works such as music and drawings. (Not altogether surprising when you consider the technology Parliament had to deal with in 1911.)

The fact that a pre-1957 film has no copyright protection per se means that the extension of copyright term is irrelevant. However, it remains important for embedded works.

Analysing the particular film you mention, the dramatic work is probably attributable to the director, Lewis Milestone (died 25 September 1980). The fact that it was based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque (died 1970) doesn't mean that Milestone has no copyright especially as the film told the story in a rather different way from the book. Still, permission must have been obtained from Remarque to make the film, so who owns the rights relevant to the film now is going to be a difficult question to answer.

Clearly, Milestone's dramatic work and Remarque's literary work remain in copyright in this country. The photographs that make up the film would have been protected for fifty years after publication so copyright would have expired in 1980, so never had protection under the 1988 Act, so were in no position to get revived copyright under the EC directive.

Peter Groves
Bircham Dyson Bell, 50 Broadway, London SW1H 0BL Direct line 020 7170 0327

-----Original Message-----
From: B.Attwell [mailto:B.Attwell[_at_]open.ac.uk] Sent: 17 July 2003 17:55
To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property Subject: [CNI-(C)]

Could anyone advise me on whether or not the film - All Quiet on the Western Front' (1930) would still be in copyright - and why - particularly in UK? Is there a useful site where I could usefully search on duration of old films. Films particularly cause me some confusion because of the different Acts in UK (1911 - 1988) and the subsequent duration extension in Europe. Very best wishes

Bernadette Attwell
The Open University

Bernie

Bernadette Attwell

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Received on Fri Jul 18 2003 - 20:10:06 GMT