Leighton Williams, Staff Reporter
FREE OR regular television viewing kills movie sales. Consequently, after a movie premieres at the cinemas, free television is usually the last to receive it in the viewing chain.
Based on the current order of movie distribution, after a film leaves the studio it goes to the cinemas, where it is shown for two to three weeks. About six months after the initial release it is made available for home-viewing purposes on DVD and video. Shortly after, it reaches pay-per-view, before moving on to cable about a year after being released.
In the United States (US), free television usually acquires the rights to show the flick two years later.
In recent times, however, it seems as if in some cases Jamaican free television has cut the line and placed itself firmly between cable and US free TV or, in some instances, between pay-per-view and cable. Local television stations now show movies at about the same time as US cable networks and pay-per-view channels, or shortly after the first showing at cinemas.
A few weeks ago, CVM Television premiered Spiderman while it was only available on pay-per-view in the US and not scheduled to premiere on HBO until Saturday, May 3. About two Saturdays ago, Lord Of The Rings The Fellowship Of The Ring was aired. It is still being shown on cable. CVM's competitor TVJ, recently showed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which has occasionally been broadcast on cable and is yet to be premiered on United States free television.
This shuffling of the order has left Goldmine Pictures, the distributors for Spider-man in the Caribbean, searching for answers. In fact, the distributors are not pleased that Jamaican television is showing relatively popular flicks at the same time as cable, or in some cases, earlier.
"No deal was made with any Jamaican free television station as far as I know. That's impossible (a deal made by a local television station with an overseas studio), because no deals will be made with free TV before it is shown on cable. If they make deals with free TV it will be with US free television," explained Rasheed Ali, a spokesperson for Goldmine Pictures.
When asked if it was possible that the television stations could have gone directly to the film companies, he added: "The money they (the filmmakers) get from cable is more than free TV. Each carries a price and they get a bigger price from cable. Free TV kills promotion. If you make a movie and hope not to make a profit, you take it to free TV first. So it's unlikely they would talk to free TV before."
TVJ was quick to point out that it has acquired the rights to broadcast its movies. "We have contracts for movies and the programmes that we show with various programme providers from overseas," explained programmes manager for TVJ, Carlene Salmon. Checks by The Sunday Gleaner with the distributors for Lara Croft:Tomb Raider, United International Pictures, revealed that it had no agreement with any Jamaican television station. United International Pictures distributes for production studios such as Paramount (the makers of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), Dreamworks/SKG and Universal. However, they pointed out it was possible that TVJ could have an arrangement with another entity, since their focus was cinema distribution.
When asked recently whether CVM had circumvented any laws to show the Spider-man premiere on local TV, Elaine Bryan, CVM programmes manager, said, "Why would you even want to ask that question? CVM has contracts for all the programmes that it shows. I cannot reveal the details of the contracts that we have, but we do have contracts for all the shows that CVM airs."
Further efforts were made to contact CVM television on at least two occasions on Thursday and about five times on Friday but their Programmes Manager was said to be out of office at a managers' retreat.
If local television is in breach of Intellectual Property Right laws, they could be in big trouble with the Broadcasting Commission. According to the Commission, all electronic media licensees are required to enter into an agreement with the provider before using a programme. If in breach, they can lose their licence as well as face legal action.
If a possible breach comes to the Commission's attention, that body investigates and where a infraction is found an investigation takes place. Usually, such an infraction is brought to the attention of the licensee who would have to remedy the situation.
One aspect of the investigation is to find out if there is an agreement between the accused and the programme provider. If there is no documentation in place, then the media house or cable provider will have to correct the situation. Failure to correct the situation could see the offending media house's licence being revoked.
The Commission adds that at times the operator supplies a licence to the body to show it has the rights for particular programmes. The Commission did not say if TVJ or CVM had submitted any documentation giving them right to show the movies mentioned and to date has not received any complaints against TVJ or CVM by the film studios in relation to the movies.
