What's the deal with "It's a Wonderful Life"'s copyright status?

[CJones]

Here's an interesting, and probably way more in depth than anyone cares, video on this subject. But allow me to sum up.

It's a Wonderful Life was based on the short story "The Greatest Gift". The movie bombed at the box office, so in the 70s, when the copyright was to expire, nobody bothered to renew it. It fell into the public domain, and because it was now free, networks started showing it on TV. It became popular, and someone figured there had to be a way to reassert copyright control to make money off it again. Turns out, thanks to a series of resales, someone did still have copyright control over the original story, Republic Pictures, and convinced the courts that this should translate to at least partial control over the movie. Republic also bought the rights to the original score, most of which, ironically, wasn't actually used in the movie. Those rights were sold, ultimately, to Paramount, who now controls the movie.

Rifftrax seems to believe that as long as they excise the parts of the movie that relate directly to The Greatest Gift, or include the copyrighted parts of the score, they're okay. I don't think it works that way, but maybe they know something I don't. If so, I'd be interested in hearing it.

[scottrzf]

In the end, it doesn't matter  what Rifftrax "believes" or what the actual copyright is (though if Paramount now controls it, it explains a lot: next to Disney Paramount/CBS/Viacom are the most litigious corp). They riffed what they riffed, and that's the end. I'm not happy with the outcome (as I believe there were many missed opportunities in the "fantasy" sequence), but we got what we got.

[torgman]

They riffed what they riffed, and that's the end. I'm not happy with the outcome (as I believe there were many missed opportunities in the "fantasy" sequence), but we got what we got.

It's OK that you're satisfied, but I would like to see "Just the Jokes" commentaries of the whole movie, myself.