CriterionCast

Janus Films In Hot Water With Merchant Ivory Over Distribution Rights

Now may be one hell of a good time to grab up that Howard’s End Blu-ray.

Merchant Ivory Productions LTD is suing Janus Films on the grounds that they infringed upon copyrights, ‘by distributing films after their licensing deals expired,’ according to Business Week.

Back in 1999, the company licensed out 26 films to Janus, only to see that their films had been distributed, allegedly, by Janus following the ending of their original deal. Janus is denying these claims obviously, so at this point it appears as though the two sides will be heading to court, making Criterion’s Merchant Ivory releases rather interesting buys.

Personally, while I’m not a huge fan of any of the Merchant Ivory films (I find them to be almost too lavish in many ways), but with the likelihood of these films ever coming back into Janus’ hands being almost negligible, they are screaming prime prices on the collector’s market. The End Blu-ray is incomparable, and is a must own for fans of the company or the type of period drama that they helped make famous and ultimately became synonymous with. More on this as it develops.

Source Bloomberg

Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.