Are personal OTA recordings worth anything?

[Kenn Caesius]

I have been recording programs off the air for almost twenty years
(according to the oldest tape I have, since November 12th, 1992) and I
have collected a large collection of cartoons, movies, local
programming, and other events that I thought I would enjoy watching
again and again. Although I know that copyrights would prevent me from
profiting from what I have, how can I gauge the historical or
sentimental value of the recordings I have?

In a similar vein, are there any other recordings that approach the
notoriety of "The Star Wars Holiday Special"?

---End of message---

[Peter]

Post by Kenn Caesius
I have been recording programs off the air for almost twenty years
(according to the oldest tape I have, since November 12th, 1992) and I
have collected a large collection of cartoons, movies, local
programming, and other events that I thought I would enjoy watching
again and again. Although I know that copyrights would prevent me from
profiting from what I have, how can I gauge the historical or
sentimental value of the recordings I have?
In a similar vein, are there any other recordings that approach the
notoriety of "The Star Wars Holiday Special"?
---End of message---

Only speculation: if your recordings are 20 years old or newer, they
probably have limited value except for those that have not been released
by the copyright holder on VHS tape or DVD. As opposed to the older
times (when much of what was broadcast was not even recorded, or the
recordings have been lost or discarded), unless there was a disaster at
the studio's storage warehouse, all the broadcasts from within the
previous 20 years were probably recorded (if broadcast live) and are
still available for reproduction if there appeared to be a need/demand.
In fact, many of the recordings you made were probably broadcasts of a
master recording that still exists. I know of no way to measure
sentimental value. Historical? As far as historical value, you would
probably need to submit a complete inventory of your holdings to (1) the
Library of Congress, (2) the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and
(3) The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago and get their
feedback.

[Kenn Caesius]

Thank you Peter for the very informative reply.

This might be out of topic for the newsgroup but is there any way to
access the value of over the air recordings that have yet to be released
to DVD? In my nearly twenty years, I have recorded countless items,
most of which has been forgotten and never released to DVD like an
introductory episode to "Princess Tenko and guardians of the magic" and
several episodes of "The PJs" and "Samurai Pizza Cats". I know that
most of the episodes for SPC are available on youtube but Princess Tenko
and The PJs not so much.

---End of message---

[kaboom]

On Wed, 3 Aug 2011 10:40:48 -0700, "Kenn Caesius"

Post by Kenn Caesius
Thank you Peter for the very informative reply.
This might be out of topic for the newsgroup but is there any way to
access the value of over the air recordings that have yet to be released
to DVD? In my nearly twenty years, I have recorded countless items,
most of which has been forgotten and never released to DVD like an
introductory episode to "Princess Tenko and guardians of the magic" and
several episodes of "The PJs" and "Samurai Pizza Cats". I know that
most of the episodes for SPC are available on youtube but Princess Tenko
and The PJs not so much.

**I have never heard of Samurai Pizza Cats. :) I also wanted to throw
this out: Other things of value on your tapes might be commercials.
Yea, I know, right? But I love watching old commercials. Well, I don't
know if there's any one place to be able to assess the value of your
recordings. My suggestion would be to check out these websites (purely
to establish a frame of reference because right now you have no idea
what's a coveted piece of video): eBay, ioffer, bonanza, imdb and
other sites of that ilk. For imdb (Internet Movie Database) you can
see what people are discussing, for instance, "when is this coming out
on DVD" etc etc.

I'd hit ioffer first:

http://www.ioffer.com/search/items/samurai%20pizza%20cats

Perhaps you could open up a youtube channel for the old commercials. I
mean they post anything on youtube even older Weather on the 8s from
the Weather Channel! Are your videos cataloged completely? Something
else of value might be where they break into the regular scheduled
programming to announce, for instance, Princess Di's accident or a
shuttle disaster. I know it seems morbid, but it's news and of
historical importance.

kaboomie

[s***@changethisparttohardbat.com]

Whether they are "valuable" is a bit complex. Many of the items might
not be released on DVD, but that doesn't mean you would have the right
to reproduce or sell them, since they are all likely still under
copyright whether or not they have been released.

It's true that some of the ads might be of interest. I've been looking for a
high quality copy of the 1986 Twix commercial featuring the Bridgemen drumline.


kaboom <***@nospamyahoo.com> wrote:
: On Wed, 3 Aug 2011 10:40:48 -0700, "Kenn Caesius"
: <xiloteak-***@yahoo.com> wrote:

: >Thank you Peter for the very informative reply.
: >
: >This might be out of topic for the newsgroup but is there any way to
: >access the value of over the air recordings that have yet to be released
: >to DVD? In my nearly twenty years, I have recorded countless items,
: >most of which has been forgotten and never released to DVD like an
: >introductory episode to "Princess Tenko and guardians of the magic" and
: >several episodes of "The PJs" and "Samurai Pizza Cats". I know that
: >most of the episodes for SPC are available on youtube but Princess Tenko
: >and The PJs not so much.

: **I have never heard of Samurai Pizza Cats. :) I also wanted to throw
: this out: Other things of value on your tapes might be commercials.
: Yea, I know, right? But I love watching old commercials. Well, I don't
: know if there's any one place to be able to assess the value of your
: recordings. My suggestion would be to check out these websites (purely
: to establish a frame of reference because right now you have no idea
: what's a coveted piece of video): eBay, ioffer, bonanza, imdb and
: other sites of that ilk. For imdb (Internet Movie Database) you can
: see what people are discussing, for instance, "when is this coming out
: on DVD" etc etc.

: I'd hit ioffer first:

: http://www.ioffer.com/search/items/samurai%20pizza%20cats

: Perhaps you could open up a youtube channel for the old commercials. I
: mean they post anything on youtube even older Weather on the 8s from
: the Weather Channel! Are your videos cataloged completely? Something
: else of value might be where they break into the regular scheduled
: programming to announce, for instance, Princess Di's accident or a
: shuttle disaster. I know it seems morbid, but it's news and of
: historical importance.

: kaboomie

[kaboom]

Post by s***@changethisparttohardbat.com
Whether they are "valuable" is a bit complex. Many of the items might
not be released on DVD, but that doesn't mean you would have the right
to reproduce or sell them, since they are all likely still under
copyright whether or not they have been released.

**That's true. I was thinking more along the lines of valuable when
being desired by video collectors. It's why I suggested youtube. The
flipside being that there are trading groups for programs not
available on DVD.

Post by s***@changethisparttohardbat.com
It's true that some of the ads might be of interest. I've been looking for a
high quality copy of the 1986 Twix commercial featuring the Bridgemen drumline.

**Is that the one with the really cute little boy in it? Walking
behind the drummers with the Twix in his back pocket? That's about the
only Twix commercial that I remember :)

kaboomie

[s***@changethisparttohardbat.com]

kaboom <***@nospamyahoo.com> wrote:
: **Is that the one with the really cute little boy in it? Walking
: behind the drummers with the Twix in his back pocket? That's about the
: only Twix commercial that I remember :)

Yeah, it starts with the drummers sitting around on the sidewalk,
hitting each others' sticks and finally picking up their drums and
marching off. Yeah I think one of them is walking behind them.

[s***@changethisparttohardbat.com]

this one:

kaboom <***@nospamyahoo.com> wrote:
: On 04 Aug 2011 00:27:37 GMT, ***@changethisparttohardbat.com
: wrote:

: >Whether they are "valuable" is a bit complex. Many of the items might
: >not be released on DVD, but that doesn't mean you would have the right
: >to reproduce or sell them, since they are all likely still under
: >copyright whether or not they have been released.

: **That's true. I was thinking more along the lines of valuable when
: being desired by video collectors. It's why I suggested youtube. The
: flipside being that there are trading groups for programs not
: available on DVD.

: >It's true that some of the ads might be of interest. I've been looking for a
: >high quality copy of the 1986 Twix commercial featuring the Bridgemen drumline.

: **Is that the one with the really cute little boy in it? Walking
: behind the drummers with the Twix in his back pocket? That's about the
: only Twix commercial that I remember :)

: kaboomie

[Ant]

Got anything with ants? ;) You could upload the videos to the Internet,
but copyright is the issue. :(

Post by Kenn Caesius
I have been recording programs off the air for almost twenty years
(according to the oldest tape I have, since November 12th, 1992) and I
have collected a large collection of cartoons, movies, local
programming, and other events that I thought I would enjoy watching
again and again. Although I know that copyrights would prevent me from
profiting from what I have, how can I gauge the historical or
sentimental value of the recordings I have?
In a similar vein, are there any other recordings that approach the
notoriety of "The Star Wars Holiday Special"?
---End of message---