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The Wonder Years Unavailable On DVD Due To Music Licensing Rights
from the another-one-bites-the-dust dept
One of the tragedies of ridiculous music licensing practices has been that TV shows that involved great music can no longer be seen -- because when they were first aired, there was no aftermarket, and so no rights were cleared with the music owners. The famous case is the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati, which tried to get around the issue by replacing all the great classic rock in the original, with crappy new music -- really harming the quality of the show. Tom sent in a note pointing out that the classic 80s TV show The Wonder Years is actually facing a similar issue, and because of it, the show is not available on DVD. The show was famous for integrating great music into the overall show -- clearing all that music for a DVD release is apparently too difficult, leading to an overall loss to society and culture.
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fuck the riaa
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Not Officially Available...
But as anyone who follows the show on IMDB message boards knows, bootlegs are freely available.
Fans would rather pay to have the real thing, but instead either do without or buy crappy copies that earn absolutely zero for the original cast and the greedy folks that control all of that great music.
Rather than make money they earn nothing because of their unbeatable combination of greed and stupidity. What a shoddy way to represent the artists that made such a tremendous soundtrack. Given the chance to make money they rathole their goods instead and cry "Piracy!".
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This is also the same reason MTV's animated series "Daria" isn't available on DVD (with the exception of the two films) -- tons of music licensing issues. Plus, replacing the music isn't an option, as many of the songs they used were integral to several scenes in the series. (The movies, for the record, had replaced music instead of being available as it was aired.)
Music licensing issues have also affected many other shows, including "The Fugitive", "Roseanne", "Married with Children", and "My Three Sons" (and it's one of the factors, but not the main factor, that's keeping the '60s "Batman" series off of DVD).
Screw the RIAA, screw the music licensing contracts, and screw everyone who keeps TV shows from being preserved on DVD as they were originally aired.
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And the RIAA and MPAA wonder why pirating is so rampant.
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This is pants
I'm increasingly of the idea that the founding fathers had it right. A monopoly that prevents the children (or grandchildren) from building upon the works of a previous generation (or two!) is just fraked. (Frak is a trademark of Battlestar Galactica. No infringement is intended.)
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Klimbim
This reminds me of Klimbim (1973-1979), a German comedy show with Elisabeth Volkmann and Ingrid Steeger. The show was aired on German public television, paid for by TV licensees and tax payers. The show cannot be released on DVD because of licensing issues. Elisabeth Volkmann is already dead. I guess we have to wait until all the other actresses and actors died, too, so that some executives of the entertainment industry get a bigger share. Klimbim seems to describe copyright best.
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Re: This is pants
I hate you Tucker.
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Paying someone to advertise their product.
One of the reasons I have not bought the dvd set for Northern Exposure it was released with alternate music due to music industry greed.
However the prohibitive costs of licensing the music is completely backward in my opinion. The key to selling any product is exposure. Isn't this why anyone trying to sell anything spends time and money thinking of ways to advertise their product.
Personally hearing a new song or old favorite in a movie, tv show, hell even teasers and commercials is what sparks my many itunes impulse buys. Really old catalog stuff in particular. Honestly think about all the music you loved but never knew the performer and one day you hear it and thanks to google can find who the artist was by typing in a few lyrics. Then thanks to the beauty of a la carte song buying can buy it and enjoy it forever.
I consider it product placement to have your song played to a captive audience. Didn't the music industry used to bribe people just to get exposure? Remember payola?
I wouldn't go so far as to say they should pay for the privilege of having their music used. Since the producers benefit from the song as well it is a symbiotic relationship both sides benefit.
Licensing should be a token amount just to say we have a deal. But should never for one second should the fee be so high that the use of music places a financial burden on the show or translate to ridiculous dvd set prices. However an artist should be able to refuse to allow their songs to be used for any personal reasons. I wouldn't want my work to show up in some hate groups recruitment dvd for an extreme example.
Wake up music industry! You used to bribe, cajole, and strong arm the radio stations just to get some airplay. And for some reason you forgot that exposure sells your product.
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Sigh.........
Once again the greed and selfishness of America.
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WKRP in Cincinnati,
wow i use to watch this show everyday but then one day it just disappeared.
I never knew what happened.
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Another Music Victim
The Greatest American Hero is also a victim of this "process". The original music is replaced by some crappy music. Heartbreaking really. Luckily I have VHS tapes of the shows that still have the original music.
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overall loss to society and culture?
OK, I get the point of the article. I too was a 'Wonder Years' watcher and really enjoyed it because of memories brought back by some of the characters' experiences as well as the soundtrack.
But come on, it's a little over the top to describe the lack of this show on DVD as "an overall loss to society and culture".
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WKRP
Speaking of anyone know where I can find a copy of the song played during the closing credits of this show (not the sappy opening theme)? I have talked with several people over the years (we were all small children when this show aired) and there is alot of love out there for this brief song.
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Re: Another Music Victim
I always wondered about that one. I didn't remember the music being that bad back in the day...
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Re: WKRP
You can find it on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8uH76COzk8
Just a bit of Trivia. The person who sang it just belted out nonsense in a rock sound. :) The lyrics weren't even known when it was recorded. :)
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The Wonder Years unavailable...
This is not really a bad thing.
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??? http://www.kxzentertainment.com/wonderd.html
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...another victim
I hear Cold Case is another victim of the music licensing fiasco. Great show BTW.
[m]
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Re: overall loss to society and culture?
Why not?
First of all, whether you consider it art or not, TV is a part of modern culture. The Wonder Years was an influential show that won a lot number of awards. Fred Savage was the youngest ever actor to be nominated for certain Emmy awards at the time, and it also won a Peabody award.
It was also popular internationally - check out the following quote from the show's wikipedia page:
"...the show was met by a huge exposure amongst young audiences and teenagers throughout Israel. For many adults in Israel, the show is both a personal and a collective childhood memory."
Not having the show on DVD does a couple of things. It firstly restricts access to the show. If it's not repeated on a channel you have access to, and it's not available on DVD, for many people it may as well not exist. Given the above, that's a loss to society and culture, however minor you believe it to be.
Then, there's the effect the soundtrack has on people. Even today, the show can act as advertising. People hear songs they like in a show, they find out what the song is and who it's by. They may then decide to go out and buy said music, which they probably won't do if they never hear it within the context of the show... The replacement music in WKRP has been shown to not only lessen the impact of the show, but also removes the potential exposure viewers have to the music of the period.
I'm not a fan of either show myself, but removing the original forms from history does seem to me to have a negative effect, both on the show and the musicians and artists who could benefit from the original formats being available. All so the RIAA can rape a few extra licensing dollars (while of course ignoring the benefits of having these shows available).
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Married... With Children
"Married... With Children" DVD series lost the "Love & Marriage" theme sung by Sinatra after season 1, replaced with a new theme...
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Well, that's why you want to think ahead when writing contracts, folks. You bet your sweet bippy that the folks writing contracts these days have requested the rights to re-use the music on DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, holographic cubes, the crystals from the Fortress of Solitude, and anything else.
If you want to blame someone, blame the lawyers who decided that the music to the shows they represented was a short-term, disposable investment.
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Re:
No thanks. I will continue to blame the people that are twisting copyright law beyond its intended purpose.
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Re: Another Music Victim
You can also include the "The Equalizer" as well.
Of note here is that the US DVD release from Universal is affected but their R2 DVD release (UK, western Europe) has the original music.
This is a mid-80's TV action series. Amusingly the US release had a dance club scene dubbed with music from the 90's.
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Re: Paying someone to advertise their product.
You can't have it both ways. Either the rights holders can set whatever conditions they want for licensing, or they cannot. You cannot preserve an artist's right to not have his music used by a hate group and at the same time prevent a megacorporation from holding a DVD release hostage because of greed over the licensing cost. I don't know exactly what the solution is, but I would lean towards opening up the content more. People will learn eventually that just because they hear music somewhere doesn't mean it's an endorsement by the musician.
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Re:
I wondered why I could never find any 'Daria'... I loved that show!
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"Beavis and Butthead" suffered a similar fate, which was too bad because their capping on the lame music videos used in the show was often the best, funniest part.
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Another example
This also happened to a Doctor Who story which was set in the 1960s and uses a couple of Beatles clips. (Search for the paragraph that starts, "The copyright holders...") Ironic, as the Beatles were fans of the show way back when and nearly appeared in one of the early episodes. Luckily, in this case, the music was replaced for the DVD release.
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Why can't there be a stipulation stating that programs created before these music licensing laws were enacted are not subject to the law.
Classic Cars are not required to have seat belts, or pass smog checks if they were made prior to a certain year. This affects human lives and our environment.... I guess when it comes to money matters, not a cent can be spared!
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the Wonder years television show
Hi.
I just want to say that I think it's a rotten shame .
That this great show is not available on DVD.
I tried buying a bootleg.
Which I normally don't do and I got ripped off.
I guess I got what I deserved!
Thats the first and last time I'll ever do that again.How can they be so rotten?Maybe after the music rights exspire it will finally be availabe.
You'd think someone as wealthy as Joe Cocker would try and work a deal fore fans of the show .
I only bought the botleg because I wanted to be able to see the show again.
It did'nt do me any good cause none of the disks worked.
I would'nt advise any one to buy these illegal sets that are available !!
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Wonder Years TV Series
What a shame, that a wonderful series will not come to DVD due to red tape over the music rights. I grew up with the wonderful lessons of this TV show. Sure wish my child could see the tender, and oft times humerous situations that most kids go through in one form or another.
Such a shame, that money corrupts one more thing of beauty. I guess the only lesson my son will learn is that money, and greed, corrupts. Pity, real pity.....
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Bad Excuse
I'm guessing that Music licensing rights are a little difficult to overcome, but certainly not that hard. There would be no way "One Tree Hill" could ever be on DVD if it were. That show actually names the episodes after the names of songs. ABC could produce the Wonder Years DVD's if they wanted to, but it would appear they are more interested in spending money on shows like "Dancing with the Stars"
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Wonder Years
Ok, we all agree that it's awful the show The Wonder Years is not available on DVD. I've been waiting for YEARS and I'm done waiting! That being said, I see dozens of web sites selling bootleg copies. Has anyone had any GOOD luck with any of these sites as my only concern is the quality of the sound & video?
If so, please post the link.
Hopefully, I can get to see The Wonder Years again "with A Little Help From My Friends".
Thanks...
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i think it's just a matter of time till it does come out on dvd. transformers wasn't availible on blu-ray for a while cause they had the contract with Hi-def, which wen't under, now its availible blu-ray. This show takes me back and it would be a shame if it wasn't realesed.
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Re: overall loss to society and culture?
this is a timeless piece about growing up in america, and incorporates a lot of the issues and sentiments of the time. i consider it a great loss too!
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Re: the Wonder years television show
Joe Cocker is a wealthy guy from a long time ago. He could use the current exposure to keep that wealth going. I just saw the DVDs offered on Facebook so I was hoping they were the real thing and the agreements had been signed. Looks like more bootleg.
I thought both Wonder Years and WKRP were ground breakers in TV and would love to own the REAL thing.
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DVD
https://www.mytvshowdvds.com/product_info.php?products_id=1341
they claim to have the music...i want to know for sure
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possibly?
amazon has posted an "unavailable" listing for an import....maybe this is a baby step for an official US release
http://www.amazon.com/Wonder-Years-Complete-Seasons-1-6/dp/B001S3VMXW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF 8&s=dvd&qid=1247574467&sr=1-4
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The Wonder Years
What DVD sets are being sold then? Are they pirated and made into official looking DVD sets? Are they only the shows without any music?
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Re: Not Officially Available...
Hi.I made the mistake of buying a bootleg DVD set .Of the television show the Wonder years.And when I got the lousy set I was very upst and dissapointed.None of the discs worked .Even after going to Blockbuser video near My house.To try and have them buffed out .I found out that all the discs were scratched badley underneath the labels.I tried to return the bogus set/but the return address was in Cinese.And when I tried sendig the cite a email.They wanted to know how old all the DVD players in My house are.I tried playing them in all eight of our DVD players .Even My DVD recorder.And the assistent Postmaster blamed Me fore buying a Chinese bootleg.I would not recommend that anyone buy any of these sets online.The cites selling them are nothing but a bunch of heartless croocks!!!I'll never trust anything like that again!!I hate bootlegs /but I thought that they would atleast work .And god only knows if this classic television series will ever come to DVD.The People who control the music Wrights ought to be ashamed of themselvs.A whole generation is being given a raw deal !!!!!
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