Is it legal to cut off the credits when showing a movie on TV?
Where I am (which I won't specify), there are a couple of free-to-air movie channels. However, almost every movie I watch has the boring bit of the credits cut off. That is, if there are bloopers with the credits (like in Rush Hour), or the first couple of credits are done in a creative/interesting way (like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with the burnt paper), they do show those credits. But they cut it off when it comes to the black background and white text credits roll, either by editing it to skip to the end, or just abruptly ending it.
I can understand that most people ignore credits anyway, and they're cutting it off to save time (although personally I sometimes like listening to the credits music). However, I wanted to know, is it legal? From my point of view, everybody who worked on the film has a right to have their name shown at the end, and whether they're acknowledged by the viewer or not should be the viewer's choice.
Also, now that I think about it, the cinema a go to occasionally also cuts off the credits in the same way. This surely isn't legal, right?
Best Answer
Generally speaking it is not legal to cut any part of a film for broadcasting, but it is done when a legal contract states it's allowed. Most broadcast companies seek permission to do the following.
- Edit the film to adjust the viewing aspect ratio (example; "This film has been formatted to fit your television screen").
- They can bleep or cut out scenes that don't meet the networks viewer rating (example; remove scenes from a horror film to make it PG rated).
- They can speed up the end credits.
- They can show credits in a picture-in-picture format.
When you see a film shown on television without the end credits. Often you can find that information on the network's website or in the printed television guide.
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Answer 2
Any movie (or TV show) broadcast on TV (or in a cinema for that matter) will be subject to whatever provisions the copyright holder decided in the contract.
Many movies are censored or edited when shown on TV so clearly it isn't illegal in general to cut credits. The studios most likely have a standard contract that allows for some basic cuts. Technically they could decide any conditions they felt like, but they would be much less likely to get any "buyers" for the broadcast.
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