DVD releases of public domain films

[Nitemare]

I have a question regarding public domain films.

The Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons are public domain and are available for download at http://www.archive.org/

I have downloaded and collected these low quality cartoons and made my own Superman DVD cartoon collection.

Someone later loaned me a copy of the newly remastered DVD release of these same cartoons. They look so much nicer than the DVD I made but I'm sticking with my original ones since ripping DVDs I don't own isn't something that I do.

Still... is it illegal to rip a DVD of a public domain film?

Theoretically, I could take their excellent quality cartoons and reauthor them into a DVD using my own menu's and the world would be none the wiser, but is legally or morally wrong to do so?

Let the opinions/legal information fly!

[Conquest10]

Now I'm no lawyer but I really doubt that would be legal. Now, if you took the originals and fixed them yourself, then I think it'll be OK for you to sell them.

[Nitemare]

Oh, I'm not interested in selling them. Maybe I shouldhave been clearer on that point.

Everything I make is for my own use, whether it's old public domain crappy internet downloads or VHS captures of movies I OWN that aren't available on DVD yet.

I sell nothing... and I'm not going to do this with the Superman cartoons because I've already made the DVD on my own. I was just curious about the legal rights of a DVD release of a public domain product.

For example.... now that they've released it again, .. is MY Fleischer Superman DVD now illegal?

[Conquest10]

I just added that. I don't think it legal either way. Since I think the remastered ones are not in the public domain. It would be like Night of the Living Dead. Its in the public domain but the remake is not.

[Noahtuck]

If it's public domain it's public domain.
I would not think there would be anything wrong with it.
But if his copies were officially released on dvd and are the exact same cartoons ?
huh... you would think iof someone went through all the trouble of remastering them and producing them & releasing them for sale they would have some kind of rights to them in order to profit, in which case you would think they were not in the public domain

I have to look through that place again, been ahile since i have been there.
I was kind of wondering where jr. got that selling part too

I just added that. I don't think it legal either way. Since I think the remastered ones are not in the public domain. It would be like Night of the Living Dead. Its in the public domain but the remake is not.

Okay, try to be clear here, when you say "it's remake"... now a "remake" would not be the original one that is public domain, a remake would be a new film with new actors, ect.

[gll99]

My opinion only but I'm sure I've read this elsewhere:

To take something from the public domain and by cleaning or other process make it copyrighted and take it out of the public domain is not possible. Everyone would try that and then how would you ever know which is or isn't.

Lets see what may be copyrighted:
They remastered it by making their own menus so those menus are not in the public domain.
They added some copyright notice or other comment so those notices are not public
They may have added new commentary sounds so those are not public domain.
They made a box and designed some graphics so those specific graphics may not be public domain. Although if they show public domain characters copied from the video clip they probably still are.

The original movie even if cleaned up is public domain they can't take over the copyright. Likely they had a better print to start with and that is why the DVD is so much better. I bought a few of those and you have to read the warnings they put on them carefully since they generalize to make it appear that everything is copyrighted but actually only the cover artwork, graphical menus and any other added material may be.

If it is legally stated that a particular movie or cartoon is in the public domain then any copy of that film in any format is fair game and must stay in the public domain. This is one area where someone may own original master tapes or prints but can't lay exclusive claim to the content. As soon as they release it anyone can use it.

edit:
After I posted I did some research on wickipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Public_domain

Derived works and restorations of works in the public domain
In short: These may give rise to new copyright on the new work, but not on the public domain original.
A work that is derived or adapted from a public domain work can itself be protected by copyright only to the extent that the derived work contains elements of originality contributed by the author of the derived work. For example, an abstract painting of a famous photograph would be protectible, as is the distinctive rendition of the Star Spangled Banner performed by Jimi Hendrix. The protection available to these works does not remove the underlying work from the public domain, and the author of the derivation has no cause of action against another person who makes a derivation of the same public domain work.

A work that is merely a "slavish copy", or even a restoration of an original public domain work is not subject to copyright protection. In the case of Hearn v. Meyer, 664 F. Supp 832 (S.D.N.Y. 1987), an illustrator attempted unsuccessfully to claim copyright on his painstakingly restored versions of original Wizard of Oz illustrations. The illustrations were in the public domain, and the court found that the act of rendering them with bolder and more vibrant colors was not an original contribution sufficient to remove the restored works from the public domain.

This wasn't talking about video but the same principle probably applies. As I see it, unless they significantly added new creativity to the work it should not qualify to be a new copyrighted work. If I took a single frame image and then painted a representation of that scene then my painting would qualify as a new work. If I just enhanced the frame with filters even adding colors and then printed or resaved the image then it's essentially the same picture and wouldn't be considered a new work.

[zzyzzx]

I figure that these are the DVD's I see for sale in the dollar store.

[Nitemare]

I see many public domain DVDs in the dollar store, but the entire collection of Superman cartoons were remastered and released as special 2 disc set "Diamond Collection" and it costs considerably more than a dollar... although a quick check at Amazon.com shows it's down to $10 new.

[Conquest10]

Where's adam when we need him?