Who owns its a wonderful life

They decided that one of them looked like an Ernie, and the other one looked like a Bert. The movie character names are purely coincidental.

Well, two people: Producers Allen J. To date, these individuals have not obtained any of the necessary rights, and we would take all appropriate steps to protect those rights. I just liked the idea. BY Jennifer M Wood. Still from It's a Wonderful Life It's a Wonderful Life all began with a Christmas card. Cary Grant was set to star in It's a Wonderful Life. Ward Bond Bert as Bert. Gloria Grahame Violet as Violet. Warner Mr. Gower as Mr. Samuel S. Hinds Pa Bailey as Pa Bailey. Sarah Edwards Mrs.

Hatch as Mrs. Hatch as Sara Edwards. William Edmunds Mr. Martini as Mr. Martini as Bill Edmunds. Frank Capra. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. George Bailey has spent his entire life giving of himself to the people of Bedford Falls. He has always longed to travel but never had the opportunity in order to prevent rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town. All that prevents him from doing so is George's modest building and loan company, which was founded by his generous father.

Potter finds the misplaced money and hides it from Billy. When the bank examiner discovers the shortage later that night, George realizes that he will be held responsible and sent to jail and the company will collapse, finally allowing Potter to take over the town. Thinking of his wife, their young children, and others he loves will be better off with him dead, he contemplates suicide.

But the prayers of his loved ones result in a gentle angel named Clarence coming to earth to help George, with the promise of earning his wings. He shows George what things would have been like if he had never been born. Frank Capra's The film has a life of its own now and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. Things changed in , however. While the film itself had fallen out of copyright, the story upon which it was based — The Greatest Gift — had not, and in fact was now owned by Republic Pictures.

And following a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court in a separate case three years earlier, which determined that only the copyright owner of a story has the right to exploit derivative works such as films, Republic regained control of the picture.

Today, NBC is now the only US broadcaster licensed to show the film on network television, and Paramount — who acquired Republic in — controls the distribution. How the special effects team made the snow in It's a Wonderful Life. But it was in the public domain that the film saw a revival. TV networks, eager for cheap holiday-oriented content, latched on to the film and began to play it during the holiday season. This is how the film was played for nearly 20 years and it could have stayed that way forever, if an unrelated copyright case had not changed the course of its history forever.

The case, Stewart v. Abend sued because aforementioned renewal clause was not just a tool to extend copyright but, in a move akin to copyright termination today , was an opportunity for creators to renegotiate contracts and terms based upon changes in the marketplace. When the film later aired on television, Abend sued Stewart and the case reached the Supreme Court, which eventually ruled in favor of Abend and upheld the rights the new rightsholder in the work.