Nifty photo of Lani and Janis and Sergio on the Perry Como Holiday Special Nov. 1967

[lj]

YouTube essentially has all the videos from Perry Como's Xmas specials over the years except for this show. By now this 1967 show should be in the public domain and available for viewing. Are there any reasons why some 50 year old plus TV shows never get released? I can't figure out why this one Xmas Show of Como's was excluded.

I remember in 1967 watching this delightful special. Brasil 66 performed "So Danco Samba" and the "Frog". It was absolutely fabulous when Lani and Janis sang the old Italian standard "Oh Marie" in Portuguese and Perry sang it in Italian. The Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Gentry, and Rowan and Martin also appeared. What a lineup and what a show that was!

IMAGO.

www.imago-images.com

 

[Michael Hagerty]

YouTube essentially has all the videos from Perry Como's Xmas specials over the years except for this show. By now this 1967 show should be in the public domain and available for viewing. Are there any reasons why some 50 year old plus TV shows never get released? I can't figure out why this one Xmas Show of Como's was excluded.

I remember in 1967 watching this delightful special. Brasil 66 performed "So Danco Samba" and the "Frog". It was absolutely fabulous when Lani and Janis sang the old Italian standard "Oh Marie" in Portuguese and Perry sang it in Italian. The Jefferson Airplane, Bobby Gentry, and Rowan and Martin also appeared. What a lineup and what a show that was!

IMAGO.

www.imago-images.com

The copyright laws before 1978 were 28 years with one renewal possible for a total of 56.

However, the 1978 law (which changed the initial term to 70 years after the creator’s death) stretched renewal terms for existing copyrighted works to 67 years and made them automatic for all works on their initial term at the time—-for a total of 95. So that Perry Como special—-assuming it was properly copyrighted in the first place—-will enter the public domain in 2062.

The Como Christmas specials I can find on YouTube are likely in violation of copyright (as is a big chunk of what’s on YouTube).

Movies and TV shows newer than 1926 that are public domain happened in two ways: They either weren’t copyrighted properly in the first place (usually a clerical or technical foul-up) or were not renewed for the second 28-year term when the initial copyright expired.

As for why a legally copyrighted show might not be released, there are a couple of big reasons—-music rights clearances and the loss or destruction of the film, tape or kinescope.

 

[rockdoctor]

That is an interesting line up for a Christmas special. Another reason why some shows don't appear is that they were not filmed when live. Also, some shows recorded on videotape were erased so the tape could be reused. A lot of British shows met their fate in this manner as they reasoned that people would not want to see them again. They were very wrong. Julie Newmar had her own show way back in the day and I remember reading about it and the tapes were erased.

 

[lj]

The entire videotape to Como's '67 Xmas show is intact. The evidence: (1) As an "extra" on the Como Xmas 1974 DVD--still available-- with the Carpenters as guests, both Como and Bobby Gentry sing a duet together from that '67 show. (2) From the PBS Perry Como special from several years ago there are two color snippets lasting for 5 seconds of Perry and Lani and Janis and Sergio around the piano with no audio from that '67 show.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

The entire videotape to Como's '67 Xmas show is intact. The evidence: (1) As an "extra" on the Como Xmas 1974 DVD--still available-- with the Carpenters as guests, both Como and Bobby Gentry sing a duet together from that '67 show. (2) From the PBS Perry Como special from several years ago there are two color snippets lasting for 5 seconds of Perry and Lani and Janis and Sergio around the piano with no audio from that '67 show.

I wasn't aware there were authorized versions of these beyond what was posted on YouTube.

My thought---especially since PBS chose to use silent video---is that it's a music rights issue.

 

[lj]

Michael--very interesting regarding a possible music rights issue. In other words it may be that only Bobby Gentry permitted release of her musical segment with Como and not the other guest stars.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Michael--very interesting regarding a possible music rights issue. In other words it may be that only Bobby Gentry permitted release of her musical segment with Como and not the other guest stars.

Yep. Older movies are sometimes in limbo over the rights to one piece of music and WKRP in Cincinnati had to have legitimate hits removed and replaced with generic music when the show went from two network plays to multiple runs in syndication.

 

[JOv2]

Yep. Older movies are sometimes in limbo over the rights to one piece of music and WKRP in Cincinnati had to have legitimate hits removed and replaced with generic music when the show went from two network plays to multiple runs in syndication.

This also happened with The Odd Couple (1970-75) given a fair amount of music was featured in the show: I recall an episode featuring Roy Clark on guitar and violin, at other times there was a small jazz combo that appeared, and of course Tony Randall (and others, too) would at times sing fragments of well-known tunes... When it came time to release to video, some of this music was replaced or cut outright. (The only viable way to get these broadcast versions today is to get a hold of the old syndicated versions -- if your in the 0.0001% who had connections to someone who worked at a TV station in the '80s and made dubs...)

 

[Michael Hagerty]

Michael--very interesting regarding a possible music rights issue. In other words it may be that only Bobby Gentry permitted release of her musical segment with Como and not the other guest stars.

I know I’m late with this follow-up thought, but it would be whoever owns the rights to the song, not the artist performing it, who would have to approve.

 

[Harry]

Right. Artists only need to approve if they happen to hold rights to the performance, which usually is under the control of a network, or producer, or the main star themselves - perhaps all three!

 

[lj]

Michael and Harry--thanks for further clarification regarding this matter. That's why there are accountants and lawyers to interpret these sorts of issues. Who knows--maybe one day a video of this musical segment will "magically" appear one day. That would be very nice.