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O/T: I've discovered that the animation studio I had a gig for has shut it's doors recently to liquidation. They had a killer render archival server with archi

O/T: I've discovered that the animation studio I had a gig for has shut it's doors recently to liquidation. They had a killer render archival server with archives from 2000-onwards show casing what the studio had studio made. Cartoons, Movies; a collection of praised possessions. It pains me to think that the studio has handed this over to the liquidators only for it to be shredded and now how many OG copies have now been destroyed.

rbanffy 1y ago
I’d assume the hard drives live now in someone’s basement. A lot of people save things like that from destruction.
- dylan604 1y ago
  Just because you buy content on the auction block does not mean you own the rights to release that content. You've only purchased the physical media, not the rights. I know someone that has been down that very road after purchasing stuff from an auction after the death of a studio.
  - rbanffy 1y ago
    They might be unable to release it, but they can still preserve it.
    - dylan604 1y ago
      for what purpose? waiting for the copyright to expire, and then hope to cash in on it in the public domain? if the content is unreleased, there's other complications. you'd then be using the likeness of any talent involved whether that's their voice performance for animated content or for live action their full person. you'll be susceptible to those issues for releasing it.
      - dredmorbius 1y ago
        Internet Archive regularly puts out calls for such works, and maintains several of those archives. As a registered library, they can do this, and even make (at least some) works publicly available.
        dylan604 1y ago
        Why would the IA put out calls for unreleased, possibly unfinished work, that comes from a bankrupted studio? That seems like a very strange request. Do you have a link showing them asking for that? Also, what does being registered library have to do with being able to publish unreleased works that were never made available? I really think we're stretching credibility here
        dredmorbius 1y ago
        Unfinished works are still archivable, FWIW. US copyright law is in effect for any work of original authorship, for 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation (whichever expires first) or author's life + 70 years: <https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html>. After such time (and far sooner for works prior to post hoc copyright extensions) all works enter the public domain. That said, yes, generally I'm more familiar with IA archiving published or broadcast works. Several of those collections are listed here: <https://archive.org/details/tv https://archive.org/details/tv>. Brewster Kahle addresses unpublished works in this essay, in part: The traditional definition of a library is that it is made up of published materials, while an archive is made up of unpublished materials. Archives play an important function that must be maintained — we give frightfully little attention to collections of unpublished works in the digital age.* Think of all the drafts of books that have disappeared once we started to write with word processors and kept the files on fragile computer floppies and disks. Think of all the videotapes of lectures that are thrown out or were never recorded in the first place.* <https://blog.archive.org/2020/10/07/on-bookstores-libraries-archives-in-the-digital-age/ https://blog.archive.org/2020/10/07/on-bookstores-libraries-...> (Emphasis added.) That said, I haven't found any specific calls for donations of unpublished works, though my search was quite cursory.

rbanffy 1y ago

I’d assume the hard drives live now in someone’s basement. A lot of people save things like that from destruction.

dylan604 1y ago
Just because you buy content on the auction block does not mean you own the rights to release that content. You've only purchased the physical media, not the rights. I know someone that has been down that very road after purchasing stuff from an auction after the death of a studio.
- rbanffy 1y ago
  They might be unable to release it, but they can still preserve it.
  - dylan604 1y ago
    for what purpose? waiting for the copyright to expire, and then hope to cash in on it in the public domain? if the content is unreleased, there's other complications. you'd then be using the likeness of any talent involved whether that's their voice performance for animated content or for live action their full person. you'll be susceptible to those issues for releasing it.
    - dredmorbius 1y ago
      Internet Archive regularly puts out calls for such works, and maintains several of those archives. As a registered library, they can do this, and even make (at least some) works publicly available.
      - dylan604 1y ago
        Why would the IA put out calls for unreleased, possibly unfinished work, that comes from a bankrupted studio? That seems like a very strange request. Do you have a link showing them asking for that? Also, what does being registered library have to do with being able to publish unreleased works that were never made available? I really think we're stretching credibility here
        dredmorbius 1y ago
        Unfinished works are still archivable, FWIW. US copyright law is in effect for any work of original authorship, for 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation (whichever expires first) or author's life + 70 years: <https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-duration.html>. After such time (and far sooner for works prior to post hoc copyright extensions) all works enter the public domain. That said, yes, generally I'm more familiar with IA archiving published or broadcast works. Several of those collections are listed here: <https://archive.org/details/tv https://archive.org/details/tv>. Brewster Kahle addresses unpublished works in this essay, in part: The traditional definition of a library is that it is made up of published materials, while an archive is made up of unpublished materials. Archives play an important function that must be maintained — we give frightfully little attention to collections of unpublished works in the digital age.* Think of all the drafts of books that have disappeared once we started to write with word processors and kept the files on fragile computer floppies and disks. Think of all the videotapes of lectures that are thrown out or were never recorded in the first place.* <https://blog.archive.org/2020/10/07/on-bookstores-libraries-archives-in-the-digital-age/ https://blog.archive.org/2020/10/07/on-bookstores-libraries-...> (Emphasis added.) That said, I haven't found any specific calls for donations of unpublished works, though my search was quite cursory.