ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (12/17/84)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> How many of you haver seen _Nosferatu_, a silent film made in Germany in the 1920's? It is the same plot and characters as the book _Dracula_ by Bram Stoker. In fact, in modern prints the vampire is actually called "Dracula" I believe, but in the original he was called "Orloff" or something. Anyway, Stoker's estate sued for copyright infringement, and forced the movie out of the theaters. For years it was mentioned as having existed, but it could not be shown. Now it does show up at SF conventions, etc., so I suppose the copyright has finally run out. Does this mean we will have to wait 50 years to see _Ghostbusters_ again? I am admittedly not a legal expert, but I would guess that the Disney copyright infringement claim might be hard to back up, since there have been many humorous ghost-exterminator movies and stories over the years. The Harvey claim is, I believe, for Trademark infringement, and looks much stronger. I know that when I first saw the GB logo the ghost looked awfully familiar... Mike Ciaraldi ciaraldi@rochester seismo!rochester!ciaraldi
ecl@ahuta.UUCP (e.leeper) (12/19/84)
REFERENCES: <4783@rochester.UUCP> >How many of you haver seen _Nosferatu_, a silent film made >in Germany in the 1920's? It is the same plot and >characters as the book _Dracula_ by Bram Stoker. In fact, >in modern prints the vampire is actually called "Dracula" I >believe, but in the original he was called "Orloff" or >something. It is available on videocassette for $19.95 which strongly implies that it is in public domain. The name is Orlock, though most versions now say Dracula. (Evelyn C. Leeper for) Mark R. Leeper ...ihnp4!lznv!mrl