The Greatest Films Never Seen

"When navigating digital access to archive films, copyright lawyers typically fetishize the law, while archivists tend to fear it. Claudy Op den Kamp invites a more nuanced response. Copyright is important, no doubt, but making meaning and doing history is also about tangible things, about places, policies, and - most importantly - people. This is an elegant and engaging book, a Catherine wheel of film history scholarship, throwing light and sparks in many directions." - Ronan Deazley, Professor of Copyright Law, Queen's University Belfast "This stylish book will be indispensable for everyone who cares about the future of the past. Grounded in deep scholarship and experience, it's a case study in how copyright law shapes (or warps) cultural practice. While celebrating film preservation and the pleasures of working with found footage, Claudy Op den Kamp also reveals how pervasive anxieties over copyright compliance can hobble both memory institutions and filmmakers - and offers a bracing vision of the way forward." - Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law Emeritus, American University, Washington College of Law "The Greatest Films Never Seen is a well-written exploration of the way film history is constructed in the contemporary film archive. Claudy Op den Kamp takes the reader on a rare journey into the collection policies of the film archive, by way of copyright issues and the intellectual property system. She offers readers instructive and straightforward information about copyright, orphan films and archival policies, as well as providing a thoughtful and necessary meditation on history making in the film archive." - Janna Jones, Professor of Creative Media & Film, Northern Arizona University

Claudy Op den Kamp is Lecturer in Film and faculty member at the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management at Bournemouth University, UK, and Adjunct Research Fellow at Swinburne Law School, Australia.

Acknowledgements Preface THE ORPHAN IN A HANDBAG An introduction to the film archive and intellectual property The book's approach The film archive: a brief history Archival beginnings Digitization Intellectual property Structure of the book 1 TERRA INCOGNITA The Nederlands Filmmuseum / EYE Film Institute Netherlands What's in a name? Dichotomy I: Creating historical resonance Dichotomy II: The need for re-categorization 2 A SWISS BANK Re-categorization I - The embargoed film The archive as rights holder Third party rights holders: Fragile relations Close-up: ALS TWEE DRUPPELS WATER ('LIKE TWO DROPS OF WATER') The colourization debate 3 A HANDBAG Re-categorization II - The orphan film Close-up: De OVERVAL ('THE SILENT RAID') The 'orphan works problem' and its causes Definition, demarcation, and scope Legal causes Administrative causes Proposed solutions to the orphan works problem Legislative measures Administrative measures 4 A VEHICLE OF POWER Re-categorization III - The public domain film Close-up: BEYOND THE ROCKS What is the public domain? The digital skew The public domain and public access The public domain and access to high-quality originals 5 A BIRTHPLACE The begotten film Found footage, legal provenance, and the 'aesthetics of access' Institutional re-use Non-institutional re-use The question of the archive 'BITS & PIECES as synecdoche': a challenge to film history 6 THE POTENTIAL FOR HISTORY MAKING Of accidents and activation Close-up: The Paper Print Collection Themes and tensions Archival practice, and the 'activation of copyright' Public domain status The potential for (film) history making The archive and 'doing' history The 'research program' CONCLUSION The Brighton line Notes Filmography Bibliography Index