Assuming copyright laws don’t change by then, otherwise there is no way to know.
A plausible answer is 1977 (when the film was released as Star Wars) + 95 years (for pre-1978 works) = after 2072. However, the film had been edited by George Lucas for the 1997 “Special Edition” release. Does this mean that I cannot publicly play the Special Edition VHS tape I have at home in 2073 and have to wait until 2093, or perhaps 70 years after GL’s death?
George Lucas has been infamously attempting to erase copies of the original movie. Therefore, no HD home video release for the 1977 film exists, however, a fan effort known as the “Despecialized Edition” compiled different versions of the movie from various sources, patching the Special Edition 4K Blu-ray rip to try to replicate the original 1977 experience. Does this legally questionable version enter public domain in 2072, or does this only apply to official (SD) releases?
Anyway, the Despecialized Edition project as well as George Lucas’s treatment of the originals is an interesting rabbit hole to delve into for any movie nerd.
Attorney here.
The original version of A New Hope should enter the public domain in 2072.
The Special Edition of A New Hope should enter the public domain in 2092.
The despecialized edition uses work from the special edition and would not be legally distributable until at least 2092. But as to your question on resolution, I do not believe copyright law would differentiate between a work bases solely on the published resolution. As the other comment suggests, A high res scan of the original A New Hope, if it exists, would be in the public domain in 2072.
Interesting… Too bad a right-holder can do minor edits to their work and effectively extend copyright (which is already very long in my opinion) if they nuke the previous version. Lucas was surprisingly successful at that, and I think game studios or other creators could do that today too with their aggressive DRM tactics.
There is another fan project called “4K77”, which also attempts to restore the original version of Star Wars. They somehow managed to get their hands on the original film reels, and scanned them digitally in 4K. It looks very grainy, but this is to preserve the original experience of watching the film in theaters in 1977.
So if you want a modern-looking and cleaned-up version of the original “New Hope”, then watch Harmy’s Despecialized Edition (keep in mind it’s only 720p). If you want the genuine '70s theater experience with the film grain and everything, watch 4K77.
Thank you, great point!
There is also a release of 4K77 that they ran through a digital noise reduction filter, if the grain bothers you that much.
The despecialized edition uses a ton of cleaned up shots that don’t change in a story sense but have grain and wires and other compositing errors cleaned up. These are new works. Even the VHS release and any HD releases could be considered new works as the colour and sound would have been tweaked for each format. The best thing to do would be to find an original film print and have it scanned. Anything else would push the clock back.
