Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

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Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 13 Nov 2018 11:11

Ths is another one like Metropolis; in fact my Metropolis OP applies without changing a word:

    In terms of copyright, everything that applies to Hitchcock's films also applies to this one. Simply put, it's always been copyrighted everywhere except for the US. There, its copyright lapsed for several decades but was restored when the US belatedly fell into line with the rest of the world, effective from 1 January 1996. As DVD came along a couple of years later (and BD 10 years later), that means every unauthorised disc is a deliberate bootleg.

    I realise a lot of these discs have been in DVDC's database for a long time, but that doesn't make them any less illegitimate, or quality-wise, even worth owning. How about we remove them and add a generic explanatory footnote?

All authorised copies of Nosferatu were licensed by Transit Film or their successors Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and are easily discernible in the existing lineup.

Although removing the relatively few and uniformly terrible Metropolis boots only improved its comparison, there are possible reasons for treating this one a little differently. It could be argued that:
    - Deleting the boots halves the number of DVDs currently listed.
    - To those not so concerned with video quality, some of these boots at least have unique modern scores, even if they're seldom synced to the film itself.
    - Even I've made an exception in noting the original and best bootlegs of the supposedly PD version. Many cheapo DVDs are lesser quality copies of those (apart from the pirates of the restored versions).
Perhaps the boots could be listed separately at the bottom or split off into a separate page that doesn't show up in searches, but is linked from the main comparison?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 15 Nov 2018 22:59

Removed some of the obvious boots (which had incomplete specs) from the DVD listing for now, will update the wording later.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 16 Nov 2018 23:51

Updated copyright notes on DVD and BD
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 17 Nov 2018 16:30

Brilliant! I see the US Arrow, Oz Gryphon, US Elite and French FSF DVDs remain; could they each at least have a footnote saying they're boots? The FSF is already listed as such at the bottom of the page.
I own the US Elite DVD set and it wasn't issued in conjunction with the "National Film Museum," as no such thing exists: it's just marketing BS.

If you add:
    The 1995 restoration is also available in:
    - Spain by Divisa
...just above the similar footnote for the 2006 restoration, we've listed or noted every restored DVD we know of!
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 18 Nov 2018 03:18

Forgot to remove the FSF from the listing. The others are confirmed as bootlegs?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 19 Nov 2018 07:35

Yes. The deleted Gryphon Entertainment DVD is a pirate of the 2006 restoration, officially licensed in Oz by Madman. The Gryphon has been reissued by Bounty Films.

I missed the Oz Force DVD: it's a pirate of David Shepard's 1991 version. He confirmed this to me himself and I've quoted him in the second link above. Eureka actually pirated the Image LaserDisc for the first of their four Nosferatu DVDs (not listed here), then supplied that copy to Force. As per my link, both companies had been stealing David's restorations for some time. Nosferatu was the final straw and it led to him threatening them with legal action, after which both their Nosferatu DVDs (and VHSs) were quickly withdrawn.

The FSF is a pirate of the 1995 restoration, but with a replaced score.

I'd argue for retaining the Elite DVD (but remove the "National Film Museum" wording!), as it's technically a pirate, but of the official 1965 Atlas Film Version, including its score, from which all later "public domain" versions are derived. The Elite is the the first and best copy of the 1965 version, which will now never be issued in any other format.
Last edited by Brent_Reid on 19 Nov 2018 10:18, edited 13 times in total.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 19 Nov 2018 08:12

We are in talks on the site about making a way to possibly list confurmed bootlegs or set some sort of tagging system to let people know what’s out there. All those Metroplis and Nosferatu dvd info is still there hidden away, but not deleting until we can figure thinga out on what and how to display.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 19 Nov 2018 08:27

I agree, James: they're everywhere and never going away. I'm all for not adding any more known boots and pirates, but also don't think simply purging them is necessarily the way forward.

It's great this site is helping clarify the status of bootlegs of older films, but in cases like this one it does mean sweeping away a lot of past hard work. Additionally, retaining detailed specs and notes will help folk make their own minds up about whether or not they want to buy them.

PS: note that I edited my last post after you replied; it gets confusing, detailing the various Oz rip-offs!
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 02 Mar 2019 06:00

Hi James, did you ever figure out what to do about the listed boots?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 04 Mar 2019 07:40

Still not decided/implemented
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 04 Mar 2019 08:23

Why not just have a separate "Nosferatu Bootleg DVDs" comparison, where they could all reside?

For now though, can we at least hide the Arrow Entertainment boot? That just leaves the Elite, which in lieu of a bootleg comparison could have a note added, explaining it's effectively the source of all the supposedly "public domain" bootlegs.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Samuel_Scott » 24 Apr 2019 14:06

We're still looking at ways to implement these issues effectively. In the mean time, I'm going to move this to discussion.
I work away a lot but I will reply to all PM's within a few days so please have patience!
My 2015 viewing diary - http://www.letterboxd.com/samdvd1/films ... year/2015/
Goal for 2016: 730 films.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 13 May 2019 12:13

I'm bumping this unresolved thread in honour of its six-monthiversary! Have any other ideas come up yet?

I've noticed there have been a bunch of overlapping threads on this subject within the past few years, and there's some useful info spread between them:
How about combining all of them with this one, under the title "Bootlegs and Pirates" and making it a sticky?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 21 May 2019 14:05

Already have an "Is this a bootleg?" thread
viewtopic.php?f=53&t=36266
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 21 May 2019 22:49

Yup: it's first in my list above. And I started two others long before that. But still no decisions are being made, re listing policy for supposedly-PD boots, like those for Born to the West/Hell Town.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 31 May 2019 03:03

Born to the West seems to be in public domain, so it seems the listed dvds are not bootlegs.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 05 Jun 2019 12:12

Both the film and the serialised Zane Grey novel it was based on are under separate copyrights. There is detailed info on this page.
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 04 Jul 2019 08:30

I've noticed that Eureka's 2001 2-disc Nosferatu DVD has been mistakenly removed from the comparison. Meanwhile, the US Arrow/Digiview bootleg still remains. Any chance of switching them?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby James-Masaki_Ryan » 07 Jul 2019 23:04

The Eureka is reinstated, but is it confirmed the Type O Negative release is a bootleg?
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Re: Nosferatu (1922) DVDs

Postby Brent_Reid » 08 Jul 2019 09:17

Cheers James, could you also remove the word "Partially" from Eureka 2001's "* The Film - Partially Tinted Version"? That version is actually fully tinted throughout.

The Arrow/Type O release is a bootleg of the German Atlas Film company's licensed 1965 version. Apart from the music, it's identical to all the other currently removed "public domain" discs. The only home video releases anywhere which are actually PD are those issued in the US prior to 1996, when the US signed up to the the same copyright laws as the rest of the world. Pre-1996 US releases include VHS, V2000 and Betamax tapes but obviously not any Nosferatu "public domain" DVDs, as the first of those didn't appear until 2000. No early releases with Atlas Films' 1965 score can be counted as PD either.
Last edited by Brent_Reid on 01 Oct 2019 17:39, edited 1 time in total.
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