Out of Distribution?

[Doug Miles]

I recently sent the following email to Swank:
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A customer of mine was interested in getting a license for Raiders of the Lost Arc. He told me he couldn't get a license because it was temporarily out of distribution. I had not heard of that before. Is that just soemthing they do when a "sequel" is released?

Thanks,
Doug Miles

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This was the response:

All of the Indiana Jones movies have been pulled out of distribution b/c of the new one that is in the theaters. So we are not allowed to license them right now and no one is allowed to show them.

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First, I had never experienced this before, "temporarily out of distribution". So, I posted this as a "heads up", that some movies might not be available for licensing.

But, more importantly, I am really discouraged by the reply. There are plenty of organizations showing movies who NEVER get the proper licensing for showing movies. Raiders of the Lost Arc is an awesome choice for movie screening right now, and I guarantee there are plenty of Movie Nights featuring this movie. However, organizations and businesses (such as mine) who operate legally by acquiring the proper licensing, cannot show this movie. Even though we would willingly pay the license fee.

The MPAA really knows how to shoot itself in the foot. If they ever want the support and cooperation of protecting their property, they really need to take a different approach. The only thing this type of action does is to entice otherwise legal businesses to circumvent the law.

End of Rant.