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Why cant I watch old TV shows? 3's company? Facts of Life? The Peoples Court? It doesnt make much sense to me.



Because there aren't enough people like you who would to pay for it to cover the costs of even a lawyer reviewing the contracts to see who owns the rights (and the answer will be not a single party, actors/music/artwork etc rights involved in all will be incredibly complex), never mind actually pay anyone involved.

There are lots of things I would like someone to make at a reasonable price too (roll on my line of all existing Transformers with chrome finishes, car paint, clear windows and chrome tire rims!). But I have to accept that there's not enough of me that the costs of that sort of thing come down to $10, and buy a limited subset of more expensive items instead.


If that's the case that stuff needs to enter the public domain.

We need better legislation around orphaned works; those whose ownership is too complex to resolve should be treated the same as those whose ownership is completely lost. In both cases, ownership can't be reasonably determined.


Yes, this is the real issue. If copyright was reasonable - say 40-50 years - then a lot of this stuff would naturally enter the public domain and then could be shown on any streaming service.

Instead we have the current copyright system because a minuscule amount of old content is still profitable and large companies lobby to protect it.


offtopic, but i get a tv station that broadcasts, afaict, nothing but Roseanne, Night Court, and Empty Nest. Roseanne was just as good as I remember... until it wasn't.




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