You could do a copyright search at the library of congress. There are several reasonably priced researchers but I expect it costs at $100 per film. However don't waste your money. Major studios are VERY,VERY, VERY unlikely to be interested in lesser known B pictures. Right now they are going to be spending the next several YEARS going through their back catalogue of major titles to put out on DVD. You would have a much better chance trying to convince TCM to run them on cable Trust me there is NO point in wasting your time by writing to studios for video/dvd releases. As a friend of mine who works for a major studio once scrawled for me on a napkin when I made complaints about their disinterest in both prints and videos of older titles "THEY DON'T CARE" Jessica Rosner On Wed, 28 Aug 2002 00:16:27 -0700 Sharon Knolle <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thanks Donald. > Does anyone know if there is a way to look up > rights to specific films so as > to know whom to petition for video release? > Thanks. > Sharon > > > > > From: "Larsson, Donald F." > > Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List > > > Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 18:26:44 -0500 > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Re: Monogram and RKO films > > > > Apparently, it's a long story, but after > Howard Hughes ran RKO into the > > ground, the studio was taken over by Desilu > Productions, which in turn was > > absorbed by Paramount. So some of the titles > remained with Paramount but Ted > > Turner did get TV rights to many of those. > Of course, Turner sold out to > > TimeWarnerAOL, which has its own story! > There's a pretty good summary at the > > Scarlet Street Forum Q&A: > > > http://pub4.ezboard.com/fscarletstreetrkoandotherstudios.showMessage?topicID=4 > > 5.topic > > > > "Only connect" --E.M. Forster > > Donald F. Larsson > > English Dept., AH 230 > > Minnesota State University > > Mankato, MN 56001 > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Sharon Knolle > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > > Sent: Tue 8/27/2002 4:58 PM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Cc: > > Subject: Monogram and RKO films > > > > > > > > Hi, > > Does anyone know who ended up with > distribution rights to Monogram and RKO > > films from the '40s and '50s? I've seen some > RKO films end up on Turner Home > > Video, but certainly not all. > > > > Many thanks, > > > > Sharon Knolle > > Entertainment Writer > > [log in to unmask] > > Online Portfolio: > http://home.sprintmail.com/~sknolle/frame.html > > > > ---- > > To sign off Screen-L, e-mail > [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L > > in the message. Problems? Contact > [log in to unmask] > > > > > > ---- > > To sign off Screen-L, e-mail > [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L > > in the message. Problems? Contact > [log in to unmask] > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication > & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu