I'm entertaining the idea of starting a DVD company. My first major stumbling block is that I don't know how to ascertain who owns the rights to a certain film, and how to contact said person/corp. to gain license to distribute.

Is there somewhere a master list of title/copyright holders?

Secondly, how would I obtain a master copy of a film?

Who owns the rights really depends on the title in question. The rights owner could be very easy to assertain and contact, or could require a lot of research (and possibly confliction information).

As for the "master copy" again it depends. If for example, you want to release a title that the rights holder has already released in another country on DVD, they could probably provide you with it easily, but in some other cases, you might have to locate suitable film elements, do your own transfer, etc.

Others could probably provide better info, but you might have to give us a general idea of the type of films you are looking to release. Good luck though, it's something that I would love to do.

Thanks, cultshock.

You say the question of ownership could be very easy to answer. Is there a place online where one could find such info?

If I were to try this out (which is a big if, because I'm not at all interested in business as a vocation) I would begin with '70s made-for-TV movies. Not only are some of my favourite thrillers TV movies, but I imagine they wouldn't command much of a cost. On the flipside, they wouldn't create much revenue either, but I'd be taking on this endeavor mostly for my own purposes anyway, so it could end up being more of a hobby than an income generator.

I don't know about any single place where the info would be, (but the link that Frozen provided could be helpful) but I would just take things on a case by case basis. Let's say, using your example, I wanted to see who currently owns the rights to an old TV movie. If I actually had an old video copy of it, it would be easy to look at the credits to see what the production company was, and network that aired it (or if you don't have it on video, I'm sure there are sites/books with listings of old TV movies that could have the production info). Some research on the net might provide you with info on if that production company is still in existance, and if it is, you might be able to get a contact name and number/email. If that comes up empty, you could try getting info from the network it originally aired on, but I'm not sure how easy it is to actually get in contact with anyone at a TV network, or how helpful they would be on letting you know who currently owns the rights (if they even know).

I should say that I am not even close to being any kind of professional in this field, and I really have no experience with this, these are just some things that I would try if I wanted to do something similar.

Just crank out a few releases and they'll find you.

Sorry. I couldn't help myself.

Get yourself a listing in the Hollywood Distributors Directory (http://www.hcdonline.com/)

Once in there you'll likely have more indie filmmakers approaching you than you thought possible. Sure the big names are in there as well, but there are plenty of people shopping their films around who will end up with a smaller dist.

Please grab the batman and wild wild west TV show licenses and put them out ASAP!

I will give this link a look. Much appreciated, Frozen.

Cultshock: I tried contacting ABC, the producer of many of the best films of the type for which I'm specifically searching. Three times I emailed and didn't even get the basic courtesy of a brief reply. The fourth time I sent a withering put-down regarding the quality of their customer service; only then did I get a curt reply directing me to IMDb, which wasn't very helpful.
A store in my city called Theatrebooks might very well sell a book with copyright data, but I don't know if I want to bother.

Bill Needle, you never know. Some of these might indeed be public domain.

Quacker, thanks for the tip, but that's a little more committed and costly than I willing to go for now.

emhello, not my cup of tea. Besides, anyone expecting extras would be sorely disappointed; my primary concern would be to release the best available print of certain low-profile films on DVD at a reasonable price.


Edited to add: Frozen, your link is exactly what I needed. This should point me in the right direction. Thanks again, everyone.