D23 Expo 2015

[merlinjones]

Interesting that there don't seem to be any clearance issues holding back The Prince and the Pauper (1962) and The Sign of Zorro (1960) from being sold to the public as downloads currently.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Prince-And-Pa ... B003Y1U4NU

http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Of-Zorro-Guy ... B0095R6JFE

The Prince and the Pauper, The Sign of Zorro, Moseby's Marauders, The Horsemasters have all been sold to the public on VHS previously.

The Light in the Forest has been sold to the public on VHS and LaserDisc previously (as well as the edited educational DVD version).

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow and Perri have both been digitally remastered and were sold to the public previously on DVD as part of Walt Disney Treasures/Legacy sets, as well as having been sold on VHS. Perri is also currently available for sale as a download.

http://www.amazon.com/Perri-Ralph-Wright/dp/B004JM5EYC

Nikki Wild Dog of the North was previously available on DVD from Anchor Bay and is also currently available for sale as a download.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikki-Wild-North- ... B006RXQ8EG

[The_Iceflash]

Looks like Treasure Island is coming out as a DMS exclusive. ugh!

Is there anyone to inquire to about possible Disney Movie Rewards releases for those if they aren't going to get a general release? I find it hard to believe that some of the bigger ones at least wouldn't bring in a decent amount if given a general release.

[disneyphilip]

I still want them to release the complete Mouse Factory series.

[milojthatch]

Interesting that there don't seem to be any clearance issues holding back The Prince and the Pauper (1962) and The Sign of Zorro (1960) from being sold to the public as downloads currently.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Prince-And-Pa ... B003Y1U4NU

http://www.amazon.com/Sign-Of-Zorro-Guy ... B0095R6JFE

The Prince and the Pauper, The Sign of Zorro, Moseby's Marauders, The Horsemasters have all been sold to the public on VHS previously.

The Light in the Forest has been sold to the public on VHS and LaserDisc previously (as well as the edited educational DVD version).

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow and Perri have both been digitally remastered and were sold to the public previously on DVD as part of Walt Disney Treasures/Legacy sets, as well as having been sold on VHS. Perri is also currently available for sale as a download.

http://www.amazon.com/Perri-Ralph-Wright/dp/B004JM5EYC

Nikki Wild Dog of the North was previously available on DVD from Anchor Bay and is also currently available for sale as a download.

http://www.amazon.com/Nikki-Wild-North- ... B006RXQ8EG

That's not how clearance for media works. There are different legal rules the various studios have to follow for different forms of media. Just because something may be on NetFlix doesn't mean it will be available for airing on ABC or being sold on Blu-ray. Most home entertainment division don't really go into the fine points of all of this, but I've know enough people that have worked at not just DHE, but other home entertainment divisions to know it can be complicated.

That said, in my personal opinion, Disney is one of the studios that drags their feet the most on releasing their lesser known back catalog. The feeling I get from them is if it doesn't make "Lion King" or "Frozen" money, they kind of don't see a point all the time. It becomes a hard sell anyway.

[RyGuy]

I am a lawyer with a background in permissions and clearances. If Disney got the rights to sell these digitally they got the rights to sell on DVD and Bluray. No company, let alone one of Disney's caliber, is going to take the time to negotiate just for digital rights.

I think your other theory is correct - they are unsure whether they can sell enough copies to cover COGS and make enough profit to make it worth their time. The biggest issue here is that younger generations aren't familiar with these titles, and older generations are less likely to upgrade their media (like my aunt who still just has everything on VHS).

[milojthatch]

I am a lawyer with a background in permissions and clearances. If Disney got the rights to sell these digitally they got the rights to sell on DVD and Bluray. No company, let alone one of Disney's caliber, is going to take the time to negotiate just for digital rights.

Please don't read this as an attack, I'm actually curious. Do you work for or with any of the studios? What kind of jobs have you done? I'm not a lawyer and will admit even I don't fully understand the fine details of permissions and clearances. I just know what I've been told over the years by people who have worked in that field or about specific instances. Which is probably more than the common man, but still not enough to make a career out of it. I'm always interested in learning more.

[RyGuy]

I do not work for studios. My background was publishing and now I am in medical devices. I'm happy to chat further via PM if you have questions.

I probably overstated my earlier point. There may be instances where a studios have digital rights but not electronic media right, but I'd imagine that's very rare. Most of the time you have insufficient rights it's due to an unforeseen medium at the time rights were bargained for. Because of that, contract provisions these days tend to be incredibly expansive saying things like "in any media whether now known or later developed." I guess you could have a prolific artist that is only willing to grant some rights but not others, but in my mind that would seem weird here because as a mainstream technology, digital came later. I think you'd be more apt to see scenarios where they had rights to DVD/Blu, but not digital.

It would also seem weird to me because for most of these older movies, the stars no longer are prolific; the more media in which their work appears the more opportunity they have to earn royalties.