Russell's television work tenatively coming to DVD.

[regal26]

Update.

'Ken Russell at the BBC' has been officially added to BBC America's release schedule. It will be available 9/23/08. You can check out the details here.

http://www.bbcamericashop.com/video/ken-russell-at-the-bbc-14696.html

The only new info is that they have added 'Elgar' to the lineup.

As far as I know, this is a region 1 release only. 

[regal26]

I'm not sure how US Copyright law works as far as musical composition (in literature, if the copyright has been renewed after 1978 it's the author's life plus seventy-five years...groan).

In Europe, it is the composer's life plus seventy years (which means the Strauss estate can rake in Euros until 2019!)

So nice that art (good or bad) becomes a financial commodity. 

[BoyScoutKevin]

This is great if it goes ahead.  Song of Summer is already available but the others are not on DVD and hard to get even on video.

Do the rights to Strauss' music expire earlier in the USA?  Otherwise I cant see Dance of the Seven Veils coming out, as the Strauss family won't allow the music to be used.  I seem to remember reading that the rights in the UK expired in 10 to 20 years.

Iain

I asked the same question at another board, as I understood that the Strauss' family was adamant that this film never again see the light of day, and I thought they might have had a change of mind, but as it was told the me, while the rights to the Strauss' music HAVE NOT expired in the U.K., they HAVE expired in the U.S., which accounts for its release. That does not mean that the Strauss' family might not try some sort of legal maneuver in the U.S. to stop its release.

[regal26]

I'm not sure what kind of injuction the Strauss estate brought against the film. It really
depends on what kind of copyright exists on Strauss' music whether it be the scores themselves or the performance/recording of the music.

Either way, if the BBC states that it is to be included in the box set, I can only assume that they have or are attempting to settle any copyright issues. 

[Iain Fisher]

This is great if it goes ahead.  Song of Summer is already available but the others are not on DVD and hard to get even on video.

Do the rights to Strauss' music expire earlier in the USA?  Otherwise I cant see Dance of the Seven Veils coming out, as the Strauss family won't allow the music to be used.  I seem to remember reading that the rights in the UK expired in 10 to 20 years.

Iain

[spasmo]

Wonderful news!

All of Ken's BBC films I'm most interested in... I hope this box set will be released as soon as possible.

[regal26]

Some hopeful news.

BBC America's site have announced that they are working on a DVD set called 'Ken Russell at the BBC'. This box set would include:

The Debussy Film
Dante's Inferno
Always on Sunday
Isadora Duncan: The Biggest Dancer in the World
Delius: Song of Summer
Dance of the Seven Veils (don't know how they're working the rights to that one...)

We'll see how this pans out.

Check full announcement at
http://www.bbcamericashop.com/video/dvds-in-the-works.html