Ever Hear of Killer of Sheep?

by on June 4, 2007 · 2 comments

I hadn’t. According to the Washington Post‘s Ann Hornaday (via DCist), it was an instant landmark in American cinema when made by filmmaker Charles Burnett’s as his master’s thesis at UCLA in the 1970s. It was never released because the soundtrack had too many classic songs in it, making widespread screening too expensive.

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About Jim Harper

Jim Harper is the Director of Information Policy Studies at The Cato Institute, the Editor of Web-based privacy think-tank Privacilla.org, and the Webmaster of WashingtonWatch.com. A Poli Sci major at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Jim served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly in his final year at Hastings College of the Law. Prior to becoming a policy analyst and advocate, Jim served as counsel to committees in both the U.S. House and Senate. He avoids genuine life experience by watching lots and lots of reality TV.

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  • http://www2.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657 Steve R.

    I guess its up to me to fill the comment void and state the obvious. This is a clear example of how the current copyright regime chills creativity.

    Please note that I am not implying that those who have created content should be denied the privileges provided by copyright. Nevertheless it is my belief that those who have created content have the mistaken belief that they have more “rights” then what the law actually gives them.

    This post also points to a “market failure”. In theory, when one does a multimedia project where they incorporate copyrighted content, they should be able to negotiate the terms of a licsense that would allow them to use that content. I know nothing about this movie or what went on behind the scenes, but the worst case scenario could be that the copyright owners in their arrogance simply refused to negotiate a deal hoping to extort some unrealistic revenue.

  • http://www2.blogger.com/profile/14380731108416527657 Steve R.

    I guess its up to me to fill the comment void and state the obvious. This is a clear example of how the current copyright regime chills creativity.

    Please note that I am not implying that those who have created content should be denied the privileges provided by copyright. Nevertheless it is my belief that those who have created content have the mistaken belief that they have more “rights” then what the law actually gives them.

    This post also points to a “market failure”. In theory, when one does a multimedia project where they incorporate copyrighted content, they should be able to negotiate the terms of a licsense that would allow them to use that content. I know nothing about this movie or what went on behind the scenes, but the worst case scenario could be that the copyright owners in their arrogance simply refused to negotiate a deal hoping to extort some unrealistic revenue.

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