Dave Volsky's YouTube channel

[Brian wolf]

Most collectors who "sell" games on DVD, mostly cover duplication, blank discs, etc costs. Shipping and handling, postage. Collector sites usually dont tolerate over the top selling of games on DVD but since your average game can take 3-5 blank discs, its usually respectful for collectors to keep their game requests under 10 ...

[TanksAndSpartans]

I've talked to Doak (Rare Sports Film) on the phone. He's been interviewed publicly a few times. Here's an article: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga ... -collector

On a related note, read Gridiron Gumshoe: My Life in and out of the NFL Films' Vault bt Ace Cacchiotti. Ace dug the Tel Ra videos out of a dumpster. I got the sense from the book NFL Films didn't care much about the old stuff, but it's only from one person's point of view.

[RichardBak]

I've talked to Doak (Rare Sports Film) on the phone. He's been interviewed publicly a few times. Here's an article: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga ... -collector

On a related note, read Gridiron Gumshoe: My Life in and out of the NFL Films' Vault bt Ace Cacchiotti. Ace dug the Tel Ra videos out of a dumpster. I got the sense from the book NFL Films didn't care much about the old stuff, but it's only from one person's point of view.

Thanks for the links. I just read the article. Nice piece of writing but there's no real insight into how Doak handles any copyright issues that might arise.

The book looks interesting. I put it in my Amazon cart.

[JeffreyMiller]

Not sure how Doak does it either. Can't believe NFLF would think he's small potatoes but force Volsky (who, as stated earlier, doesn't make a dime) take down his videos. Doesn't make much sense. But if NFLF wanted Volsky to cease and desist, they had the right to say so. They can pick and choose where and when to assert their rights

For me personally, it just comes down to respecting the copyright. What others choose to do is up to them. I have HUNDREDS of videos in my collection and have NEVER sold anything. Everything is done by trade or gift. But yeah, copying, blank DVDs, labels, postage, software, etc. adds up. But that is the tradeoff.

[JeffreyMiller]

I've talked to Doak (Rare Sports Film) on the phone. He's been interviewed publicly a few times. Here's an article: https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga ... -collector

On a related note, read Gridiron Gumshoe: My Life in and out of the NFL Films' Vault bt Ace Cacchiotti. Ace dug the Tel Ra videos out of a dumpster. I got the sense from the book NFL Films didn't care much about the old stuff, but it's only from one person's point of view.

Sadly, you are probably correct. In many cases, those old films had the big plays cut out of them and the rest of the film was discarded. However, I sincerely hope that those things happened in the formative years of NFLF and someone somewhere (maybe Chris W) realized the historical value of keeping the full game films intact.

[RichardBak]

From the NFL's perspective, I suppose the difference between Rare Sports Films and Volsky is a matter of eyeballs. Doak is selling his merchandise onesey-twosey to a few hundred people whereas the YouTube channel is viewable by potentially millions.

I've worked on a few docs, and I've been surprised how often even those with big budgets freely ignore copyright when it comes to photos and old film. The operative adage for many producers has always been "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

[Citizen]

I would be in favor of a revision to our copyright laws that acknowledged the ubiquity of digital technology and the accelerated pace of production and distribution. This January 1 as in previous years, a whole raft of important works (early Disney cartoons, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, etc.) fell into the public domain -- presumably because, in most cases, the former holder of the copyright didn't care to maintain it. I'd bet that some of them didn't even know they owned these copyrights.

With ongoing media consolidation the rule and not the exception, I would love to see a "use it or lose it" policy imposed by the USPTO on the huge corporations that own this stuff. Instead of 95 years after publication, obligate them to renew the copyright 50 years after publication or else it belongs to the public. Rather than just cracking down on violators after the fact, be proactive, if only as a gesture saying you care about the work you own. If these companies, including the NFL, can't be bothered to look after their intellectual property on an ongoing basis, IMO they deserve to lose it sooner than 95 years.

[JeffreyMiller]

I would be in favor of a revision to our copyright laws that acknowledged the ubiquity of digital technology and the accelerated pace of production and distribution. This January 1 as in previous years, a whole raft of important works (early Disney cartoons, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, etc.) fell into the public domain -- presumably because, in most cases, the former holder of the copyright didn't care to maintain it. I'd bet that some of them didn't even know they owned these copyrights.

With ongoing media consolidation the rule and not the exception, I would love to see a "use it or lose it" policy imposed by the USPTO on the huge corporations that own this stuff. Instead of 95 years after publication, obligate them to renew the copyright 50 years after publication or else it belongs to the public. Rather than just cracking down on violators after the fact, be proactive, if only as a gesture saying you care about the work you own. If these companies, including the NFL, can't be bothered to look after their intellectual property on an ongoing basis, IMO they deserve to lose it sooner than 95 years.

The family of an author or artist might disagree with you. Just sayin' there's more to it than that. Besides, I am not sure I get the use-it-or-lose-it logic as if a creator should be compelled to claim ownership of his own creation or somehow utilize it in order to keep it from being taken from him. It's his (or hers).

[Citizen]

If the individual creator of the work, or a descendant, still owns the copyright? Yes, that's another thing. But copyrighted works are the victims of corporate neglect more often than they're not, especially now that so much work is no longer in physical form and can be withdrawn from streaming/digital circulation capriciously. That's what I wouldn't mind seeing addressed.

[JohnR]

NFL Films bought the Tel Ra pro football back catalogue around 1980. I think they paid $20K? This is why in the '80s we started to see those 1950s player profiles that pulled extensively from the Tel Ra footage. I don't remember the Cachiotti story about retrieving Tel Ra reels from the dumpster. If they'd just paid for all that, why would they toss it?