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Why Is The Best Version Of Star Wars Illegal?

This is why you can't (legally) watch the best version of Star Wars.

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The other day I sat down to watch the original Star Wars trilogy with some friends. One of our group had somehow escaped her entire life without ever watching or even being spoiled about the plot (basically like Kimmy Schmidt, except with way less cult activity). Determined to remedy this glaring cultural faux pas, we started making our plans to marathon the movies. What quickly became apparent was that in order to have the true cultural experience we’d have to track down the un-Lucas-ified version. That meant employing eBay and procuring a VCR, but hey — it was going to be worth it as long as Han shot first. It was a good deal more effort that watching something on Netflix, but we had a nostalgic — if lo-fi —   day.

It’s a situation that many nerds with an originalist bent find themselves in. When George Lucas made his “special edition” in 1997, with over utilization of CGI and plot changes that eroded the fundamental character of one of the heroes, he went out of his way to make sure the true “original” version would be hard to come by, and the kind of high-quality film modern audiences have come to expect is nearly impossible. As Matthew Yglesias explains:

Anyone who wants to see a high-quality version of the original cut of the film faces a couple of hurdles. One is that Lucas has never taken steps to properly preserve or restore the original physical film reels. He’s gone so far as refusing to allow the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry to get its hands on a copy. Nor has he released a high-quality version for home viewing. A few people may have their hands on obsolete VHS or Laserdisc sets, of course, but that doesn’t help. Back in 2006, Lucas released a DVD set that contained the original cut of Star Wars, but it’s a low-quality transfer made back in 1993 for the Laserdisc, not a proper DVD release — to say nothing of a Blu-ray.

I know that George Lucas created some of the seminal moments of a generation’s childhood, so I am not trying to harsh on him, but seriously dude, can you just stop already. I get it — you’re the creative “genius,” but it really feels like you’re just pissing on the little people.

But even though the Feds have shut down Silk Road, you can still get pretty much anything on the internet. And Yglesias might have found a loophole — but unfortunately it is an illegal one. Apparently, through a painstaking process a man named Petr Harmy has created a high-quality, digital version of the original cut of Star Wars — cheekily referred to as the “Despecialized Edition.”

[Petr Harmy] made it by digitally combining elements of the 2011 special edition Blu-rays, the 2006 bonus DVD, a 2004 HDTV telecast, a scan of an old 35-millimeter print, and a handful of other sources. It took a lot of hard work, but thanks to Harmy’s labor of love a really cool experience is now available.

But, again, watching it is a crime.

Well, I have no interest in being a lawyer turned criminal, so I am out.

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But the legal and legislative history that has rendered this not-for-profit endeavor criminal is an interesting one. While everyone kinda understands the utility of exclusive copyright in order to spur and reward creativity, Congress has continuously extended (retroactively) copyright protections such that the original Star Wars’ copyright will not run out until 2072. That is not about protecting the creativity of an artist but about creating revenue streams for corporations.

This philosophy of copyright law is also something the United States would like to export.

Unfortunately, there’s little sign that policymakers are interested in reconsidering the trend toward ever-more-restrictive limits on what people can do with old works of art. Instead, via the negotiations over a Trans-Pacific Partnership on trade the US is pushing for other countries to adopt misguided 50-or-more year copyright terms. Defenders of these moves position themselves as the champions of culture and creation. But culture needs a balance, not a regime of ever greater restrictiveness.

As it’s unlikely there will be any loosening of copyrights in the near future, I’ll just have to wait till 2072 to watch the best version of Star Wars.

This is the best version of Star Wars — and watching it is a crime [Vox]

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