Redbox pushing your favorites

Redbox, yes you all know the name and seen the Red box in your local retail establishments. What they do is rent the consumer a desired or intriguing video or game; but have you ever noticed any trends or consistencies with redbox content?

Check out how many films in the Redbox catalog have a produced by Summit Entertainment on them. Yes that’s right, in 2009 Summit and Redbox signed a two-year agreement allowing Redbox to distribute Summit new releases, films on catalog, and Straight to DVD's. This contract was made to help increase awareness of Summit films and monopolize on a growing kiosk market. So that’s why there are so many “B” movies in the Redbox catalog; that’s because they probably came from Summit Entertainment. That does not mean Redbox can only rent Summit movies, it just means the majority will be theirs. But now its 2013 and Summit a company that was holding on by a thread and their Twilight Franchise, had sold their company and stock in 2012 for $412.5 million to Lions Gate. Lions Gate stated they are trying to increase their library with popular franchises like, Twilight, and Summit's trying to sell them self off to a bidder while they are still desirable from the success of Twilight. Lions Gate says they will try to duplicate the distribution the value of the Summit hit franchise.

So all that this means is check the Redbox and you will notice what film company you are supporting, with your many trips to the gas station or grocery store.

But wait, your wondering "yeah I see a lot of hits and know faces in movies from Summit and Lions Gate in the big Red box; but what about the other “B” movies?" According to Eric Litynski, the Director of Purchasing/ Content acquisition for Redbox, the company tries to get a wide range of films to appeal to every demographic possible. The films are selected and for the family orientation and popularity at the moment, but the Indy films you may notice in their catalog are for the niche market that there may not be I high volume of quality films; like suspense and horror. So if there are independent filmmakers out there that want to get their product in the big red box, they need to do one of two things. Either cast big Hollywood names specific for the genre or make a really good film that there are a shortage of, like suspense and horror. After your film is complete you must get your film affiliated with a distributor somehow and they will pitch it to the Redbox execs, but your best bet is the distributor that Redbox primarily uses called Video Products Distributor or VPD.

So Redbox helps everybody? From struggling major motion picture companies to up and coming independent filmmakers. But who really reaps the benefits, is the customer who can go around the corner and get a decent flick for a buck.  

A Distribution legend

What do believe is more important, a great production company or a great distributor? Yes you do need a movie in order to distribute, but there are a lot of horrible “B” and Indy movies that are seen by millions of viewers. Millions of viewers mean millions of dollars in revenue, and how is this happening? Distribution!!

A Distribution Company is whom a studio licenses their film or television show rights to, in order for both companies to make money. The distribution company is responsible for screening the film or TV product for theater execs and prospective buyers. The Theaters then leases the films for a select time or engagement; and home entertainment media printing companies make the Blu-rays and DVD’s we watch. There are many different forms of distributing media, but the point is all the same, get the product to the masses so the filmmaker, studio, and distributor can deposit a check.

One of the oldest and well known film companies whose only business involves distribution these days, is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGMpictures. Because of financial woes, MGM does not partake in the production of film and Television anymore. What keeps MGM alive is their massive library of classics and their copyrights to each one of them; classics such as Gone with the wind, Rocky, and part ownership in the Bond Franchise.

MGM leases their rights to other film studios, allowing them to produce a new film or even re-distribute and old favorite, but all for a nice percentage. Maybe that’s why their mascot is a Lion, king of the copyrights eh. 

MGM may not have the resources or funds to produce their own films, but they do commonly co-finance productions. Sony pictures have been a major partner with MGM pictures, co-financing the last three Bond movies; Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Sky fall. Sony also has an agreement with MGM which allows Sony to distribute MGM films and episodic.

So once again the production company has the camera, but if you want to see the picture, the distributor has the ticket for sale or the price tag on the DVD gift set. Be supportive of your distributing partner, such as movie theaters, legal Hard and digital copies of media. The less support- the higher the prices get. One way or the other your favorite producer or director is going to the bank, with a check written by the distributor. 

Copyrights and Characters, Oh My!

I am not a lawyer and not authorized to give legal advice, I am sharing a collection of information from those who are qualified legal council.

Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mickey Mouse; what do you think of when you visualize each of these names? Nintendo, Sega, and Disney. These characters are so recognizable in relation to their fathering company, that they have basically become trademarks. But for the main part Copyrighted.

Trademark: A registered symbol or word used to represent a company or product.

Copyright: Exclusive rights that are given to the creator of an artistic piece.

So our friendly big eared rodent with the red shorts is the face or may I say body of Disney eh? 

Yes, and fans of Disney usually buy anything with his smiling face on it, bringing in lots of revenue for the conglomerate. So that means if someone not affiliated with Disney in anyway, were to put images of mickey on shirts and started selling, that person could cash in on the cartoon icon as well, right?

No sir, that’s a big no-no, because Mickey and along with any other character representing their company are trademarked and copyrighted. The characters likeness and everything about them, that make others recognize them, have been registered with the PTO (patent and trademark office) and the United States Copyright office, which keep unauthorized people from using them commercially. What if you put a Mickey on a shirt that you drew yourself and changed a few things? 

If someone looks at your character and says “hey that’s mickey” anyway, then you’re still in the realm of copyright infringement buddy!

Then are you even allowed to draw characters for others to admire? Of course my friend, that’s called Fan Art, and fan art is protected by your first amendment right of “Freedom of Expression”. What you can’t do is use your unauthorized version commercially or dilute the value of the trademark (make Disney look bad).

You are also protected by “Fair Use”, which asks? How much of the likeness did you take? And to what extent is your commercial use? If both are little, then you should be ok.

Are there any established characters you can use commercially and legally? Well, why would you want to do that! But if a character has fallen into public domain, then you may have a shot. Most public domain works would be characters that apply to the 1909 Copyright Act, so the 28 year contracted term would be over. BUT NOT SO FAST MR. INFRINGER! Public domain characters may not be as public as you think; most characters may have been brought in another form recently and that version copyrighted. An example is the Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. v. X one X productions case. X one X productions wanted to use Wizard of OZ characters commercially from 1939 Wizard of Oz advertisement cut outs, because they said the characters in the L. Frank Baum 1900 published book were free domain. Warner brothers, whom owned the rights to the characters due to the 1939 Judy Garland film, did not agree with X One X.  X one X lost the case in district court because the advertising material with the characters on it used by X one X, were protected by advertisement copyright laws. After X one X took the case to the 8^th circuit court, they were allowed to use the public domain characters from the book, but as long as they do not resemble the Warner Brothers Film characters.    

Dealing with characters and copyrights is a serious business that can get you a fine or even jail time. Everyone has the right to enjoy characters, but only the intellectual property owner has the right to enjoy the money that comes from the character.

IF IT’S YOURS, PROTECT IT!  IF IT’S NOT, PROTECT YOURSELF!