http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-of-holiday-classic.html
Thursday, December 25, 2008
The Making of a Holiday Classic
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By any standard, It’s a Wonderful Life qualifies as a holiday classic. Frank Capra’s 1946 film has earned its place in the pop culture pantheon, becoming a Christmas tradition for millions of viewers around the world.
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You may have noticed that, in recent years, It’s a Wonderful Life comes on only once or twice per Christmas season, and only on a major network (NBC). [That’s because] The original copyright holders managed to reassert their rights, something that is virtually unheard of. But the rights associated with the background music, as well as the copyright protection stemming from the short story on which the movie was based, had not yet expired. That gave Republic Pictures the hook in needed to reassert its control of the film.
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Wasn’t “copyright” and “patent” law supposed to speed up innovation?
Intellectual Property, or as most libertarians call it, “imaginary property”, has apparently done the opposite.
Never ending succession of small changes allow the Big Media to retain a choke hold on “stuff”.
Time to revisit that “law”.
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Reinke Faces Life 