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Originally Posted by Geoff D
Guys, please don't ^
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It's our solemn duty,
Geoff D ...
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Originally Posted by kemcha
I don't consider myself an insider either but I happen to know a lot about copyright law. Simply put, if Lucasfilm has produced a 4K restoration of the film, Disney cannot release that film since 20th Century Fox owns the rights to that film. Fans can stomp their feet and wish otherwise, but in the end, that film is owned by 20th Century Fox.
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Distribution rights. Not copyright. There's a huge difference. Lucasfilm Ltd. can do what they like and 20th Century Fox get a percentage of the profits as they are the distributor.
There is no ownership issue. Everything is owned by Lucasfilm Ltd. and their parent company.
It's actually in Fox's best interest that Lucasfilm do rerelease and re-issue the films over the next 3 years, they're basically getting money for nothing (as the restoration costs will at Lucasfilm's expense) and with the original Star Wars, Fox will be getting a cut forever.
Remember that for the theatrical and home video releases Fox are in the exact same position currently as they are with Star Wars as they are with Episodes I-III and Episodes V and VI, but only until 2020. Then Fox's theatrical and home video distribution deal ends (they don't have non-theatrical distribution deals for those episodes at all, just Star Wars).
And we've already seen fruits of those deals, with a new box set last year and digital copies been released worldwide.