These old movies have already made their money. Anything they can get now is just gravy. It’s a Wonderful Life is popular because the copyright expired and TV

These old movies have already made their money. Anything they can get now is just gravy. It’s a Wonderful Life is popular because the copyright expired and TV stations could play it for free. Playing it so much got people to watch, and now it’s a classic. It bombed originally. Putting old movies on YouTube gives them a chance at a second life, and the studio doing it, means they can still earn some money on something that would otherwise just sit in a vault somewhere.