A bunch of bones to pick - mostly with CBS (1 Viewer)

[Katherine_K]

About JAG



David, I've heard that as well through other sources but never heard when the current syndication deal expires. Do you know?

 

[Amy Mormino]

With Cold Case, blame the creative powers behind the show, not the studio. The show packs in tons of period music that the showrunners use as an integral part of the show and presents very substantial music rights issues. I'm not sure it will ever be released.

I'm not sure why NCIS hasn't come out yet. Anyone know? And I'd also love to see the Beauty and the Beast TV show come out someday soon.

 

[Jay_B!]

I don't understand, considering Cold Case premiered in the fall of 2003, why Warner couldn't go ahead and establish music rights with each successive episode as it aired, so when it was time for a DVD release, it would be taken care of? I mean, by the time the show started, TV-DVD's were already commonplace and it's funny the thought didn't even enter their minds when it went into production.

 

[Elena S]

How do I do a search on here for "crap shows that have been released while good ones are still in the vaults"?

 

[ElijahS]

Look for anything that says SONY or COLUMBIA/TRISTAR.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

They could have purchased the DVD music rights - they chose not to because it would have been too expensive. The folks who own the music rights have also noticed that TV-on-DVD is becoming a big deal and they want a piece of the action. Broadcast-only rights are comparatively cheap. Including DVD reuse would have been very expensive - and would have meant laying out money now for the use of music a few years from now - music that would not directly contribute one dime to the show's profitability. Add in this consideration - if the show gets cancelled after 13 episodes it has little shot of ever airing again in syndication and not much more of seeing a DVD release. So if you've paid for the full music rights to those episodes (as opposed to just the network/original run broadcast rights) you've wasted a lot of money. If you cheap out and the show lasts 100 episodes you can still syndicate it with replacement music and release it on DVD the same way. But you've limited your downside risk on what is always a very uncertain proposition.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Paul McElligott]

So, you negotiate the DVD rights when the show premieres but don't pay until DVD releases. Or, just cut the music rights holders in on a percentage of the DVD sales.

I've said this before. There needs to be a system by which the production companies and music rights holders can deal with these issue collectively rather than just hashing them out on a case-by-case basis.

But they never do this and probably never will. I've reached the conclusion that the people on the legal side of the entertainment industry are, collectively speaking, morons.

 

[Amy Mormino]

With Cold Case, the show has pursued a very heavy music-centered lineup after the show became a hit. I read in TV Guide that they had selected a bunch of John Mellencamp songs for an episode this season and the creators noted how expensive it was and how important the music was to the episode. It is possible that they got DVD rights for those songs, but I doubt it. Some showrunners just don't care that much about DVDs.

 

[John*P]

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto...

 

[Paul McElligott]

Cold Case would also have to cut a check to A&E since they had to get their permission to use the name "Cold Case".

 

[Katherine_K]

And as has been pointed out many times now, broadcast networks don't do DVDs. Studeos do. In this case I believe the rights holder is Paramount.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Nope.

1) You can't copyright a title. You can't even trademark one unless there is something unique about it. Now, you can fight the use of a similar or identical title in some cases, but on grounds of confusion in the marketplace, misrepresentation, etc. If I try to call a movie Gone with the Wind II or do a TV series called Casablanca I'm going to hear from the Margaret Mitchell Estate and whoever owns the film these days, as well as from Warner Bros., and rightly so. Those titles are functionally unique in the marketplace (despite one's being a place name) and have a value based on the uniqueness. But there have probably been 50 movies and books called The Island over the years, so if I produce one next year Dreamworks really can't do anything about it.

2) You can't copyright ocmmon phrases, except in highly specific instances and for limited use. (Wal-Mart could copyright "Always" as a slogan promoting its pricing policy as a retailer - not the English word "always" or the movie title Always. Donald Trump's control of "You're Fired!" does not extend beyond the realm of reality TV.)

"Cold case" is a common law enforcement term. That's where A&E got it. They called their show Cold Case Files. CBS decided to do a dramatic series based on a fictional cold case unit that would parallel the real-life units being established by many police jurisdictions and called it Cold Case. In both cases the real world cold case units long preceded the TV shows, and newspaper and magazine reporting about some of their successes were a major inspiration for A&E's TV efforts.

It is certainly possible that CBS and the studio did pay A&E something just to avoid a possible (costly) court fight, but unlikely that they would have had to. Studios routinely buy the rights to short stories and bad novels that even vaguely resemble scripts they have in development (generally for a song) just to avoid having the authors come back and sue them for stealing their ideas if the movie is a hit. (Nobody ever sues over a flop. )

Regards,

Joe

 

[John*P]

(Post deleted by John*P)