You're right, the photographs making up the film qualify for revived
copyright if they were protected in another EC Member State on 1 July 1995,
and the likelihood is that under Germany's 70 year pma term before the
directive as well as other countries' laws this may have been the case.
However ... I don't know who the photographer was (and there may have been
several): there's a good chance he or she was or they were US citizens: did
German (or other relevant) law protect their copyright?
To complicate matters more, the UK's implementation of the directive as it applies to films is wrong in several respects. But that's another story.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Calle Østergaard - Troll Company ApS [mailto:info[_at_]troll-company.dk]
Sent: 21 July 2003 16:03
To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property
Subject: [CNI-(C)] Re: [CNI-(C)]
Suppose unintended but anyway your reply indicates that to be revived under EC 93/98 the works must have been protected under 1988 Act - please explain the reason if you hold such position ??
Calle Østergaard
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 <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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