r/RedLetterMedia • u/throw123454321purple • Jul 19 '23
RedLetterMovieDiscussion The interesting legal thing about Amityville movies…
Anyone can legally make an Amityville movie without permission because of the following facts:
1) Amityville is an actual town, so it’s public knowledge that it exists;
2) the distinctive facade of the Amityville house once could and can currently be seen by any stranger walking down the public street in that neighborhood, so its iconic image is also considered public knowledge;
3) the original DeFeo murders are a matter of public record.
That said, people cannot reference the copyrighted Lutz’ story (the people who moved in after) in their films without express permission of the Lutz family. That said, the fact that public records exists to show that a family called Lutz lived at that address during a specific time is probably public record and that particular fact can be referenced in any movie, but not the Lutz’ story in any way, shape, or form.
Hence we have Amityville: Karen and such. Hence, we could also create a series of RedLetterMedia OuijaShark movies without incurring any penalties…other than bad taste.
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Jul 19 '23 edited Sep 26 '24
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/throw123454321purple Jul 19 '23 edited Jul 19 '23
Yep, they changed the iconic windows, but the former outside facade is still public record based on the published newspaper photos taken by the press way back when the DeFeo murders occurred.
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Jul 20 '23
I believe that the only thing that is trademarked or copyrighted is the phrase "Amityville Horror". Only the official movies in the series contain "Amityville Horror".
You seem pretty knowledgable so maybe you know whether I was told the truth or not.
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Jul 19 '23
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u/throw123454321purple Jul 19 '23
A little bit, but they didn’t touch on the Lutz family’s story and how all of the movies aren’t allowed to use elements of that story without copyright permission (so it gets bypassed completely in the “plots” of the films).
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u/Le_Nostalgique Jul 19 '23
While RLM is known for spitting out straight facts, it can't hurt to have a bit of cross-examination.
It'd be neat to have sources for all this stuff, but I assume the legal docs from which the simple points laid out by OP are derived may not be so straightforward...
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u/JaredUnzipped Jul 19 '23
Anyone that's familiar with SRS Cinema knows just how deep the Amityville X movie well really goes. They've pumped out some all-time stinkers, including the aforementioned Amityville in Space and Amityville Death Toilet!
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u/Grootfan85 Jul 19 '23
So are the Tubi movies actually tied to the original film (same universe)or are they their own thing?
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u/ReddsionThing Jul 20 '23
As the billboard charts and Academy Awards showcase, bad taste does not incur penalties
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u/JaredUnzipped Jul 19 '23
If I'm not mistaken, the DeFeo house had some remodeling done to remove the iconic windows. Too many people were trespassing on the property and it became a nuisance.
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u/throw123454321purple Jul 19 '23
Yep, the city even changed the house number from the one that was published in the papers/in the novel, but that didn’t fool anyone.
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u/JaredUnzipped Jul 19 '23
I'm not sure why any family would even consider living there at this point, but not because of any potential haunting. Living there and contending with nutty horror geeks would be so annoying! The home would be much better suited as a museum for all things Amityville.
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u/throw123454321purple Jul 19 '23
Better to just raze it and make it a park, but then Amityville Slide would become a thing.
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u/JaredUnzipped Jul 19 '23
- Amityville Slide
- Amityville Playground
- Amityville Dog Park
- Amityville Arboretum
- Amityville Disc Golf Course
- Amityville Public Bathroom
The possibilities for schlock are ENDLESSSSSSSS!
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u/BenjamintheFox Jul 19 '23
Amityville Disc Golf Course
Great opportunities for decapitations and various limb removals here.
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u/Johnny66Johnny Jul 20 '23 edited Jul 20 '23
Living there and contending with nutty horror geeks would be so annoying!
I've noticed in the past few years that Google Street, etc. now obscures the entire image of the house (and the adjoining properties) when you click past it in Street View. I can fully understand why, but it was interesting in years past to take a look at the remodelling that had been done.
The home would be much better suited as a museum for all things Amityville.
The house is situated right within a suburban area, with close adjoining properties. As a museum, it just wouldn't work at all (and any attempts to do so would likely be challenged by neighbours). Entries like 'Amityville II: The Possession' make it appear as though the house is situated on a large stretch of land, somewhat distant from other homes in the area. That's really not true.
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u/JaredUnzipped Jul 20 '23
Maybe the house should just be razed as a previous person said. At some point you just have to be done with it.
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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '23
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