Files on the legal ownership of films made by independent producers and production companies, including contracts, mortgages, and related correspondence, particularly from the period 1940-1953. Before a film was made, UA would decide that it wished to distribute it, then would sign an agreement to that effect which enabled the producer to obtain bank financing. Distribution contracts, detailing the exact terms for the various world markets, were drafted and signed. During the duration of the agreements and their various alterations and renewals, the distributor and the producer were in constant correspondence (and sometimes litigation) over the terms and interpretations of the contracts, amounts of money owed, etc. These matters were complicated by the fact that producing corporations often merged, dissolved, or went bankrupt; immensely complicated chains of ownership often resulted, with various persons and corporations owning fractional percentages of the rights to one or more pictures.
This file consists of materials known generally as “notices of interest” which deal with the question of who owns what part of a motion picture. The file concerns such additional areas as authors' and composers' rights, copyrights, and the rights of film laboratories, banks, and other financial institutions under “mortgage” arrangements. As the agency which collected all money for the exhibition of films, United Artists had to be certain of the exact ownership status of each film before disbursing any of this money.
