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The Charlie Brown Halloween special won’t air on network television this year
- neonate 6y agohttps://web.archive.org/web/20201027230540/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/27/charlie-brown-halloween-special-great-pumpkin-streaming-apple-tv/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201027230540/https://www.washi...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- mindslight 6y agoWhile we're at it: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:C9613136C9E5BA4A8094E1CBA3B7A3E15E785F51&dn=Its.the.Great.Pumpkin.Charlie.Brown.1966.720p.BluRay.x264-x0r
- sidpatil 6y agoThe root of the problem here is the excessively-long copyright term that facilitated this. Excessive copyright is one of the biggest enemies of cultural preservation and dissemination.
- ashika 6y agoi suppose we'll get to see by 2024 if disney drafts yet another legislative extension to keep mickey out of public domain. may as well just come out and pass a law that disney owns all human culture – present past and future. now pay up.
- shiftpgdn 6y agoI saw someone on here who proposed a simple sliding payment scale to keep things out of copyright after 5 years. 100 years out it might cost $1 million/year to keep it out. That way things naturally fall out unless a company needs to keep it in copyright.
- koolba 6y agoThat might have been me. The idea is to have an exponentially growing fee paid to maintain a copyright after some fixed initial term. If Disney really wants to keep Mickey out of the public domain, they could do so by paying ever increasing fees into the public coffers. It might be worth it to keep their handle on things for $1B a year. And if not, then the public gets it.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- tptacek 6y agoYou could just partake of culture outside of Mickey Mouse cartoons.
- tjr 6y agoDoes even Disney really push Mickey Mouse cartoons much any more? They seem to mostly focus on other product lines. I wonder just how much they would lose out on with no further copyright extension.
- tptacek 6y agoI don't know, but to the extent you're not talking about Mickey and Donald, you're not really talking about copyright extension anymore; under any reasonable copyright term, they'd still own Frozen and Toy Story.
- EvanAnderson 6y agoI agree with the sentiment, but considering the catalog that Disney has amassed it's fairly hard to stay away from their properties if you want to partake of much media-based culture.
- tptacek 6y agoWhen a reader thinks of the "catalog that Disney has amassed" that is part of our "media-based culture", they are overwhelmingly thinking of titles that would remain copyrighted --- for quite some time --- even without the Copyright Extension Act.
- tptacek 6y agoSomehow I feel like we don't have too many preservation concerns around the Charlie Brown Halloween Special.
- raldi 6y agoWhy not?
- briffle 6y agoThe whole move to streaming is going to not live up to it's promise. I have no intention to sign up for multiple services, and figure out which one has the content I want. I got rid of cable because I was tired of 500 channels and nothing is on. I can't wait until some of them consolidate.
- ravenstine 6y agoI've cancelled all my streaming subscriptions and found better things to do.
- 0df8dkdf 6y agoPerfect! Cancelling TV and these streaming services are the BEST thing I have done. Allows for more real life interactions and focus on friends and family!
- PopeDotNinja 6y agoPersonally I’d recommend finding better things to do and then canceling your subscriptions when you’re no longer using them. Ripping out a big part of one’s life without a healthy replacement can be suboptimal.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- 0df8dkdf 6y agoFor sure for sure. Make sure you find some other more interesting hobby and friends. Don't mean to do a dry cut. However, TV/shows are just another addiction! But like cutting all other addictions do it wisely. Most importantly don't replace that with real human interactions.
- edgyquant 6y agoI tend to watch TV at night when I wouldn’t be interacting with anyone but HN and a few forums anyway.
- phkahler 6y agoApple has put a classic holiday show inside their walled garden. Why not let it run on TV as usual and people can use Apple to view it when they want?
- gmoore 6y agoWTF is wrong with Apple TV - It's Charlie Brown for christ sakes....
- iaw 6y agoAmerican culture has been redefined as 'Intellectual Property' with the intent of controlling it in perpetuity.
- tptacek 6y agoI think it goes rather the other way, that intellectual property is distinctively morally defensible --- it wouldn't exist at all without its creators and investors, unlike the land we stole from indigenous people --- and the idea that you can declare something "American culture" and thereby expropriate it from its rightful owners is alarming.
- iaw 6y ago> rightful owners When it's the original author or within a reasonable time frame of their publication the concept of rightful owners makes sense. The idea of an essentially immortal non-living entity or a 5th generation niece/nephew being a rightful owner to a work is not a view I agree with. Society is the background that allows works to be created, at some point control over those expressions is ceded back to society.
- tptacek 6y agoA company funds the creation of a piece of content, taking the risk that it will be worth enough to recoup both that content and all the rest of their portfolio of titles, most of which are worth approximately nothing. I see the moral claim they have on that, even 100 years later. I do not see what moral claim we have, at all. Markets don't always work, but here's a place where they've worked exceptionally well. We are in a wonderland of available content. It has never been easier to find something great to watch or listen to. If Disney wants to charge me $100 to watch Steamboat Willie, what do I care? I'll just watch something better, and probably not pay anything for it.
- Animats 6y agoMeanwhile, you can watch the Star Wars Holiday Special on the Internet Archive.[1] [1] https://archive.org/details/thestarwarsholidayspecialhighquality2 https://archive.org/details/thestarwarsholidayspecialhighqua...
- mtmail 6y agoThat one is so univerally bad, even skipping through it was painful. "David Hofstede, author of What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History, ranked the holiday special at number one, calling it "the worst two hours of television ever". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Holiday_Special I'm looking forward to the LEGO one this year. "An animated sequel set after the events of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, titled the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, will be released on Disney+ in November 2020."
- paleogizmo 6y agoThe suggestion I've been given is to watch a riff track version rather than the original. The biggest sin of the holiday special is that it's dull and no amount of cold medication will help improve it, as I discovered one January.
- hylaride 6y agoIt did introduce Boba Fett, though. But yeah, it's still terrible.
- jjk166 6y agoAnother Star Wars Holiday Special? Well I guess that's one more for 2020 Bingo.
- macjohnmcc 6y agoMade by people who hate Christmas!
- alexpotato 6y agoMy personal price preference breaks down into something along the lines of: I am happy to pay up to $100/mo for access to ANY movie or TV show. In the past on HN, people have pointed out that this is not possible at the $5 or $12 or $15/month price point which is fine. I wish someone would at least offer the option (or even tiers) so that I could make the decision for myself. I don't really understand why the streaming services are leaving so much consumer surplus on the table. Clearly people are open to the idea because cable companies had tiers like this (which people paid for).
- tomnipotent 6y ago> because cable companies had tiers like this I'd much rather deal with multiple disparate streaming services than ever return to the days of a consolidated content provider. Having to log into a few different services to browse content is a small price to pay for banishing the middlemen.
- tatersolid 6y ago> Having to log into a few different services to browse content is a small price to pay for banishing the middlemen. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and even HBO are middlemen. Even much of their “original” content is produced by other production companies and licensed. Are you expecting each production company to have their own service some day?
- tomnipotent 6y ago> Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and even HBO are middlemen This is how the entertainment industry has worked for many decades, including the big studios, in that they're the financiers and marketing. So they pay for and own the content, have exclusive distribution of the content, and you can't sidestep them to get to the content since it wouldn't exist with out them. Does that sound like middlemen?
- mehlmao 6y agoJust going to leave this here: https://thepiratebay10.org/torrent/19126495/Its.the.Great.Pumpkin.Charlie.Brown.1966.720p.BluRay.x264-x0r https://thepiratebay10.org/torrent/19126495/Its.the.Great.Pu...
- sp332 6y agoLess blockable, more plausibly deniable: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:C9613136C9E5BA4A8094E1CBA3B7A3E15E785F51 P.S. Anyone know of a good IP blocklist that is actively maintained?
- raegis 6y agoThere is a seven day free trial for Apple TV.
- CubsFan1060 6y agoOr you can watch it for free October 30-> November 1 (I think those dates are right)
- jpsimons 6y agoIf only we had the original 1909 copyright laws, this would be public domain by 2022!
- imwally 6y ago> The Halloween special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," premiered on Apple TV + on October 19 for Apple TV + subscribers, but Apple is also making it free to watch from October 30 through November 1. via https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/27/peanuts-wildbrain-apple-tv-plus-petition/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/27/peanuts-wildbrain-apple...
- digital-cygnet 6y agoThe article mentions this: > AppleTV Plus plans to make the “Peanuts” specials free to stream for nonsubscribers during short windows around relevant holidays. But as with HBO allowing PBS to air “Sesame Street” episodes after a period in which they’re exclusive to HBO, Apple’s decision emphasizes the restriction, not the limited availability. It underscores that Americans now have different levels of access to some cultural touchstones, dividing kids whose parents can shell out for extra services from those who can’t. The author's point is less that it is less accessible now and more that it is less shared now. Streaming has a plethora of benefits over broadcast television, but unity (in the sense of "broadly shared cultural moments") is not one.
- egypturnash 6y agoIf not for Disney (and other entertainment megacorporations, but mostly Disney) pushing for vastly extended copyright, this would have been in the public domain around 1995 and you could have your own copy to play any time you like without any fear of getting in trouble. Anyone could broadcast it, as well.
- 6stringmerc 6y agoThe Mickey Mouse curve is one of the most rotten legal decisions since Napster's ruling that "copying files and sharing them is not equal to copying cassette tapes and sharing them" in my lifetime.
- tptacek 6y agoAt no point in my entire life has modern or popular music been more available than it is now. I haven't "bought an album" in over a decade, because virtually everything is instantly available at no additional charge beyond the one simple service I subscribe to. Short of all recorded content being de facto uncompensated, which is what the logical conclusion of Napster winning would have been, it's hard to see an outcome here that would be better for consumers than the one we have. I suspect we'll be in a similar position with video content in 10 years as well. Already, I think it's easy to make the case that we're better off than we were in the status quo ante of cable bundles and video rentals.
- EvanAnderson 6y agoAs the opportunity to purchase physical or non-streaming versions of content dry up consumers will be forced into subscription services. There won't be a non-recurring-payment option for consumers who don't necessarily want new media. I don't know what the size of that market segment is, but the subscription-based streaming-only future isn't a "win" for them.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- luxuryballs 6y agoMy theory is they know exactly what they are doing and are still trying to clean house on DVD sales.
- ethagknight 6y agoOne quick Meta edit- this is a loss for Amazon, which has a connected interest to WaPo. Let’s be clear about that first. No mention of that tie in the article, which is pathetic. My kids watched the Charlie Brown Halloween special ad free and at their schedule’s whim (aka 2x in a row). Don’t shed a tear for Charlie, he’s fine, this offering is way better. Now If I could only get my wife to let me cancel directv once and for all... I get that the copyright laws should be tweaked and Charlie should be totally free, but I’m guessing that the copyright law has also enabled Disney to spend quite a bit of money on the new Charlie Brown space series, which my kids also have loved. At the end of the day, I didn’t pay any more money to see Charlie Brown Halloween, I saw it ad free, very high quality picture (you can actually see the shadows from the way the cartoon was assembled I think?), I didn’t have to worry if this was some troll version where Charlie pulls out a chainsaw and slices Lucy up, (looking at you, YouTube). I mean, do I need to go on?
- bluntfang 6y ago>new Charlie Brown space series, which my kids also have loved. I mean, couldn't a quality series be created without previously popular IP? Is the only reason your kids watched it is because of their parents appeal to nostalgia? Is anyone else sick of endless sequels?
- AnthonyMouse 6y agoNot only that, if you create a new series you get a new copyright on it. You get all the money from the new series. The difference is that then there isn't only one company who can make it.
- fennecfoxen 6y agoWhen you have a culture and that culture has lots of traditions and memories associated with the holidays, and they're a key vehicle for nostalgia, you don't just swap it all out for the latest shiny new movie. Furthermore, we are talking about the Peanuts characters. They had a multi-decade run syndicated across all the national funny pages, long before any of them were ever animated. Do we even have the sort of media environment any more where it's possible to make this sort of cultural investment, and reach out and touch everyone? If not, this may be a harbinger of our culture's continued fragmentation in the days to come.
- diggernet 6y agoI imagine this means the Christmas special won't air this year, either...