Republic Pictures - Aftermath

Aftermath

During the early-1980s NTA re-syndicated most of the Republic film library for use by then-emerging cable television, and by 1986 found itself so successful with these product lines that it bought the Republic Pictures name and logo. A television-production unit was set up under the Republic name, and offered, among other things, the CBS series Beauty and the Beast and game show Press Your Luck (the rights to the latter series have since acquired by FremantleMedia). There were also a few theatrical films, including Freeway, Ruby in Paradise, Dark Horse, Live Nude Girls and Bound. The "new" Republic also began marketing the original's serial library on videotape.

In 1993 Republic won a landmark legal decision reactivating the copyright on Frank Capra's 1946 RKO film It's a Wonderful Life (under NTA, they had already acquired the film's negative, music score, and the story on which it was based, "The Greatest Gift").

On April 27, 1994, Spelling Entertainment (headed by Aaron Spelling) acquired Republic Pictures. Soon after, Spelling consolidated its many divisions, reducing Republic Pictures to a marketing brand-name. Republic's video division shut down in 1995, allowing the video rights to the Republic library to be leased to Artisan Entertainment, while the library itself continued to be released under the Republic name and logo. By the end of the decade, Viacom bought the portion of Spelling it did not own previously; thus Republic became a wholly owned division of Paramount. Artisan (later sold to Lionsgate Home Entertainment) continued to use the Republic name, logo and library under license from Paramount.

Republic Pictures' holdings consist of a catalog of 3,000 films and TV series, including:

• The original Republic library (except for the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry catalogs, owned by their respective estates)
• Inherited properties from NTA
  • It's a Wonderful Life
  • Several Cary Grant movies, some independently produced by his company but released by other studios (Indiscreet, Operation Petticoat, The Grass is Greener, That Touch of Mink, and Father Goose). Also included in the package is Penny Serenade, a film Grant starred in but did not finance (the film itself is in the public domain, but Republic created a colorized version of the film, which it owns).
  • Gulliver's Travels and Mr. Bug Goes to Town, both produced by Fleischer Studios
  • Almost all pre-October 1950 Paramount short subjects (including Puppetoons and cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios)
    • These do not include the Popeye and Superman cartoons, which were sold to different entities and are now held by the various divisions of Time Warner
  • The pre-1973 NBC catalog, including
    • Bonanza
    • I Married Joan
    • Get Smart (TV rights only)
  • Most pre-1952 United Artists feature films, including
    • High Noon
    • Copacabana
  • Leo McCarey's Rainbow Productions (The Bells of St. Mary's, Good Sam)
  • The Enterprise Studios catalog (Body and Soul, Arch of Triumph, Force of Evil, Caught, etc.)
  • A number of reissued films from Budd Rogers Releasing Corporation (The Dark Mirror, Magic Town, A Double Life, Secret Beyond the Door and Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
  • The pre-1960 United States Pictures catalog
  • The Lost Moment – a 1947 film released by Universal Pictures
  • Select films financed by Ely Landau (Long Day's Journey into Night, The Pawnbroker, etc.)
  • Most films from NTA sub-division Commonwealth United Entertainment
• The holdings of Aaron Spelling
  • All of the TV series produced by Spelling Television
  • The Laurel Entertainment television library, including Tales from the Darkside
    • The international rights to the 1982 horror anthology Creepshow (owned domestically by Warner Bros.)
  • Television series distributed by Worldvision Enterprises
    • Television rights to Little House on the Prairie
    • Most of the Quinn Martin library, including
      • The Fugitive
      • The Streets of San Francisco
  • Not included are most of the libraries of Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears Productions, which were sold off to Turner Broadcasting System in 1991 (along with the H-B studio itself); these are also owned by Time Warner

Today, as a result of the Viacom/CBS corporate split of 2006, Republic's holdings are divided. CBS Television Studios owns most ancillary rights to Republic's television output (while sharing the copyrights with Republic itself), while the theatrical side is owned outright by Viacom's Paramount Pictures. As of 2009, television distribution of the Republic theatrical films is by Trifecta Entertainment & Media (under license from Paramount).

Lions Gate Home Entertainment's home video rights initially expired in late 2005, but later regained video rights to Republic's theatrical film library (except It's a Wonderful Life--the video rights to that and several other films, as well as Republic's TV library now are with Paramount Home Entertainment, with the TV shows released through the CBS DVD label). Lionsgate's rights lasted until 2011. Paramount handles internet distribution of the Republic films via iTunes and Epix.

Outside the US, video rights to the Republic film and television library are divided. For example, Universal Studios Home Entertainment owns the UK rights (they also own UK DVD rights to the TV series Twin Peaks, despite other Spelling/Republic shows being distributed by Paramount there), and Paramount itself handles distribution in Australia and New Zealand.

Republic has since folded, and as of the present is part of Melange Pictures, LLC, established by Viacom as a holding company for the Republic library. The video rights, in turn, shifted from Lionsgate to Olive Films (under license from Paramount).