How Copyright Stifles Business

-By Tosh: December 27, 2005

This is a prime example of the unforeseen consequences associated with infinite copyright extensions. By not letting creative material enter the public domain, eventually it stifles the ability of not just individuals to create new product, but it also stops business from effectively creating new sources of profit. The entire thing has gotten totally out of balance.

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Songs don't remain the same for TV shows on DVD

-By Bryan Reesman, The Hollywood Reporter: December 26, 2005

Nostalgia sure isn't what it used to be. Imagine watching "Married ... With Children" without Frank Sinatra crooning the recognizable theme song. Ponder a pivotal moment in "Quantum Leap" forever altered because its requisite Ray Charles tune has been replaced. Consider revisiting an episode of "The Muppet Show," only to find that one's favorite musical number has been excised.

As far-fetched as these scenarios might sound, they are becoming a reality for vintage TV shows reissued on DVD. Licensing music for older programs is as pricey as obtaining tunes for new series, and the issue is forcing studios to make radical changes in order to feed the growing demand for TV product in the home-entertainment arena.

In the past year alone, the TV-on-DVD business has accounted for more than $2 billion in sales, and a report released by Merrill Lynch in 2004 suggested that that figure could reach $3.9 billion by 2008. With a number of recent releases flying off store shelves -- the first seasons of "Chappelle's Show," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" have sold more than 1 million units each -- studios have been reaching into their vaults to resurrect shows including "All in the Family," "The Golden Girls" and "Magnum, P.I." to feed that seemingly-insatiable consumer appetite.

More often, though, skyrocketing music-clearance fees are becoming major stumbling blocks for DVD reissues, often delaying or even completely derailing releases. Take "WKRP in Cincinnati," for example: The 1970s sitcom used so much classic rock that it would cost 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment a mint to clear the tracks. Fox has suggested that it still is considering releasing "WKRP," but others are not optimistic that the comedy and similar shows of its kind will ever make it into the market.

"'WKRP' will always be in limbo," says Paul Brownstein, a DVD producer of classic CBS shows such as the "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Gunsmoke" and "The Twilight Zone."

He notes that the studios need to negotiate licensing deals with both the record labels, which control the master recordings, and with the music publishers, which control or administer the copyrights.

The price tag for iconic, well-known tunes can be staggering: Tracks by the Who and the O'Jays, used in the opening credits of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice," respectively, generate six-figure deals annually.

Trying to obtain music for certain shows can be so frustrating, says Jeff Hayne, director of acquisitions for home video distributor BCI Eclipse, that sometimes it is best to move on to the next project. He says that he passed on half a dozen titles this year, either at the outset or after doing some initial legwork.

"It made it unrecoupable," Hayne recalls. "The cost of clearing the music often doubles the amount of units you've got to sell. Sometimes, it becomes impossible. The projections don't match what is currently happening on the charts."

Adds music supervisor Scott Edelman, whose credits include Fox's "Reunion" and NBC's "My Name Is Earl": "I know that some of the studios have chosen to do alternate DVD music and actually strip out some of the original music and replace it with less-expensive indie music."

For hard-core fans, the issue has become such a sticking point that many box sets now carry disclaimers on the packaging.

"There was the big debacle with 'Quantum Leap: Season 2,"' recalls Gord Lacey, president and founder of TVShowsOnDVD. "In the season finale, Al (Dean Stockwell) is dancing with his wife, and their song is supposed to be playing in the background, and it's changed. That was a very emotional scene for the series and one that a lot fans hold dear to their hearts. To change that song really upset people."

Since then, Lacey says, Universal Studios Home Entertainment DVDs include a disclaimer on the packaging; Universal's DVD of NBC's "Las Vegas" carries a message reading, "Music may differ from televised version." A similar disclaimer can be found on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's DVD release of Season 3 of "Married ... With Children."

"It actually says, 'Includes new opening theme song' right on the back of the package, and it's not in microscopic letters. It's bigger than the text description of the season," Lacey says.

While Home Theater magazine convergence editor Chris Chiarella feels that a change like the "Married" theme might be glaring to consumer viewers, he thinks the overall impact is small. "That segment of the market that knows the original product well enough to detect the difference is likely a small percentage, and I've never heard of anyone returning a DVD to the store because the music had been rescored," he says.

When studios opt to retain original music and pay the appropriate license fees, those costs often are passed along to the consumer. The star-studded Season 1 edition of the NBC series "American Dreams," billed as an "Extended Music Edition" (it contained some music substitutions), retails for $89.98. "Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series" and "Moonlighting: Seasons 1 and 2" both kept their original music at a final retail cost of $69.98 and $49.98, respectively.

"I'm sure that for the real hard-core fan, it's not easy to swallow, hearing a different song," Edelman says. "But I think it's weighing the difference between actually getting to own it on DVD or not."