Sita Sings the Blues is a delightful animated film that tells an ancient Sanskript epic with an American jazz age soundtrack. The story behind the story could be a preview of the future of independent film distribution and copyright issues.
You can download the entire film here or stream it live on Google.
The animator--Nina Paley--says copyright laws often prevent independent filmakers from having their films released.
Much of Sita's soundtrack is the music of 1920's jazz singer Annette Hanshaw. The copyright on Hanshaw's recordings was never renewed, but in the US at least, elements of the work remain protected. At first the rights holders wanted more than $200,000 before Paley could release the film. They eventually reached an agreement where she would pay them $50,000 and then release as many as 5,000 copies of Sita on DVD. Promotional copies would be exempt.
So Paley is making Sita available for free. (A promotion.)
However, fans can help Paley recover her costs by making a donation at Questioncopyright.org.
Read the entire story here or go to SitaSingstheBlues.com.
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