Hag & the Strangers - vintage video???

Neil Hilton · Post by **Neil Hilton** » 22 Nov 2000 7:54 am

Hello all - I've posted and commented along these lines before, keep hoping that something will be dusted off of someone's back closet shelf some day??? ---

I watched the A&E biography piece on Merle last week, pretty well done, but re-energized my appetite to find some access to some old concert and/or performance video of he and the Strangers from back in the 60's-early 70's. There were just a couple of very brief clips on the A&E show, doing "Okie" and "Branded Man" -when those came on I jumped off the couch yelling "yeh, yeh, yeh, I want a whole hour of this!!!"

Old performances video surely exists?!?!, in purest form, even if some old home-movie type film of concerts would surface.... I'd pay some real cash to get a look and listen - I simply would love to watch Merle, Roy, Norm and the fellas work their magic from that era. Any suggestions at all?!?!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 23 Nov 2000 9:09 am

Neil, there's a whole list of reasons why some "old media" will never be re-released. In some cases, the rights were licensed for specified time period...say 2 years. When the 2 years is up, it can no longer be used for broadcast. Sometimes the artist holds the rights. But most of the time, it's the recording companies that dictate what will be made available to the public. Also, sometimes, the stars themselves don't want something distributed. One very famous steelman refused to grant permission for a video that was made to be distributed because he thought his "tone was bad". Other stars have been known to attempt to buy up all of a certain "embarrassing" recording just to protect their "image".

In the past, most songs only had a copy rights for 25-50 years. Now, through legislation passed in recent years (Sonny Bono being largely responsible) copy rights for songs may sometimes exceed a hundred years! So, if a company (or an artist) wishes something withheld, chances are that it's gone "forever", for all practical purposes.

Sometimes, though, "bootleg" copies of recordings do make it into limited distribution, anyway. Some think "bootleggers" are thieves, and others consider them "saviours". It all depends on which side of the fence you stand!

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 23 Nov 2000 11:39 am

Anytime you guys mention copyright laws etc I say thanks for the info.