<P> A clerical error at NTA prevented the copyright from being renewed properly in 1974 . Despite the lapsed copyright, television stations that aired it still had to pay royalties because--though the film's images had entered the public domain--the film's story was still protected as a derivative work of the published story The Greatest Gift, whose copyright Philip Van Doren Stern had properly renewed in 1971 . The film became a perennial holiday favorite in the 1980s, possibly due to its repeated showings each holiday season on hundreds of local television stations . It was mentioned during the deliberations on the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 . </P> <P> In 1993, Republic Pictures, which was the successor to NTA, relied on the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Stewart v. Abend (which involved another Stewart film, Rear Window) to enforce its claim to the copyright . While the film's copyright had not been renewed, Republic still owned the film rights to "The Greatest Gift"; thus the plaintiffs were able to argue its status as a derivative work of a work still under copyright . NBC, since 1996, is licensed to show the film on U.S. network television, and traditionally shows it twice during the holidays, with one showing on Christmas Eve . Paramount (via parent company Viacom's 1998 acquisition of Republic's then - parent, Spelling Entertainment) once again has distribution rights for the first time since 1955 . </P> <P> Due to all the above actions, this is one of the few RKO films not controlled by Turner Entertainment / Warner Bros. in the USA . It is also one of two Capra films Paramount owns despite not having originally released it--the other is Broadway Bill (originally from Columbia, remade by Paramount as Riding High in 1950). </P> <P> Director Capra met with Wilson Markle about having Colorization, Inc., colorize It's a Wonderful Life based on an enthusiastic response to the colorization of Topper from actor Cary Grant . The company's art director Brian Holmes prepared 10 minutes of colorized footage from It's a Wonderful Life for Capra to view, which resulted in Capra signing a contract with Colorization, Inc., and his "enthusiastic agree (ment) to pay half the $260,000 cost of colorizing the movie and to share any profits" and giving "preliminary approval to making similar color versions of two of his other black - and - white films, Meet John Doe (1941) and Lady for a Day (1933)". However, the film was believed to be in the public domain at the time, and as a result Markle and Holmes responded by returning Capra's initial investment, eliminating his financial participation, and refusing outright to allow the director to exercise artistic control over the colorization of his films, leading Capra to join in the campaign against the process . </P>

Who owns the movie its a wonderful life