History Main / AshcanCopy

** This was parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where it's stated to be one of several movies made by Imagine Entertainment ([[SelfDeprecation the studio that makes the show]]) for just such a reason: Ron Howard was told by a drunk lawyer at the company Christmas party that Imagine's license on the Fantastic Four would expire if it remained unused for 6 more days. They made a film where the people working the bar were hired to be the actors, then hired them to work at the film's wrap party.

* Bob Dylan's The Copyright Extension Collection was an official 4-CDR release by Sony of many unreleased sessions and alternate takes from the early 60s. Much of this music was not considered commercially viable, so had not been released. However, the rules at the time the music was made was that it would go into the Public Domain after 50 years unless it was released officially. As the title suggests, it was released as a way of renewing the copyright. They did not want to draw much attention to it, so released it as a limited edition of 100 copies in Germany and some other parts of Europe, and did not promote it. The set became immensely popular and copies sell for high prices - the music has not been released again. Ironically, its limited availability and official status has encouraged far more downloading than it would have done if they had let it pass into the public domain.

If, by chance, these works ever actually ''do'' see distribution, expect TheyJustDidntCare to be taken to new levels.

* DC Comics, owner of Wonder Woman, made a huge mistake back then: they never though about making a "Wonder Man". Marvel Comics played a prank to them by doing so first. They were not serious about it: it was a one time villain, who dies at the end of his single adventure. But, when the rights to this minor character were about to expire (and DC would be able to use them), Marvel Comics resurrected the character and turned it into a steady character for the Avengers, retaining the rights.

** This was parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where it's stated to be one of several movies made by Imagine Entertainment ([[SelfDeprecation the studio that makes the show]]) for just such a reason: Ron Howard was told by a drunk lawyer at the company Christmas party that Imagine's license on the Fantastic Four would expire if it remained unused for 6 more days. They made a film where the people working the bar were hired to be the actos, then hired them to work at the film's wrap party.

* "Action Funnies".

The term originated in TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, when there was a big rush to copyright as many characters and titles as possible, but the actual production time of a comic book made it a bit problematic when days or even hours mattered. The solution? Create a simple mock comic, often just a cover and some unrelated filler made up of garbage sheets, and submit it to the copyright office. The term itself comes from the fact that these comics often weren't ever actually distributed, often just going straight to the ashcan (period vernacular for trashcan) once they did their job.

* Fawcett's ''5-Cent Comics'' and ''Nickel Comics'' ashcans marked the respective debuts of Dan Dare and Scoop Smith, both of whom subsequently appeared in ''Whiz Comics''. ''Nickel Comics'' became a regular series, but without Scoop Smith.

** This was parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where it's stated to be one of several movies made by Imagine Entertainment ([[SelfDeprecation the studio that makes the show]]) for just such a reason: the actors were the people working the bar during the company Christmas party, which was where Ron Howard was told by a drunk lawyer that Imagine's license on the Fantastic Four would expire if it remained unused for 6 more days, and they were also hired to work at the film's wrap party 6 days later.

* ''Film/HellraiserRevelations'' was made in a few weeks so that Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany could hold onto the rights to the ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' franchise long enough to get a planned remake off the ground. The result is widely regarded as the worst film in a franchise that has seen its fair share of bad sequels, to the point where Creator/CliveBarker (who wrote and directed the original film) publicly [[https://twitter.com/RealCliveBarker/status/105189711416524800 disowned it]].
* The [[Film/AtlasShrugged film adaptation]] of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. After [[DevelopmentHell a long series of false starts]], it took the prospect of the film rights reverting to the Creator/AynRand estate to get the owners of the rights to finally put the film into production as a low-budget indie project. Unlike most examples on this page it was actually intended for widespread release, although given how badly it crashed and burned at the box office it might've been better to play this trope straight.
* Both ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' were born because Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, the respective owners of the rights to the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' films, didn't want to see the rights revert back to Marvel Comics, given that they now [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse produce their own films]] (and are owned by Creator/{{Disney}}), making big bucks doing it with megahits like ''Film/TheAvengers'', and therefore won't be licensing out their properties in the foreseeable future. Proving that [[TropesAreTools Tropes are Not Bad]], both films were well-received by critics and moviegoers alike, and were substantial box-office hits... until the latter got [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 a sequel]], which started to show some definite signs of FranchiseZombie and isn't doing as well in the box office, bringing it a ''bit'' closer to typical examples of this trope. On the other hand, ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' can be considered the greatest AshCanCopy of all time, if aggregate reviews are anything to go by.
** Likewise, the upcoming ''[[Film/FantasticFour2015 Fantastic Four]]'' reboot is being made partially to avoid the rights reverting to Marvel, nonetheless [[TroubledProduction production for the film seems to be in limbo]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Planes}}'' franchise is a blatant Ash Can Copy of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', although it's an unusual example in that it's also a spin-off, from a different animation studio within the same parent company. The rationale is clear; ''Cars'' merchandise [[http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/21/business/la-fi-ct-cars2-20110621 is among the biggest brands on the market]], and with Pixar devoting its time to other projects, Disney needed more movies to keep demand high. Thus, the ''Planes'' films were pulled from direct-to-video and given theatrical releases, and a trilogy had been greenlighted before the first film even premiered.

** This was parodied in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where it's stated to be one of several movies made by Imagine Entertainment ([[SelfDeprecation the studio that makes the show]]) for just such a reason: the actors were the people working the bar when Ron Howard was told their contract was expiring, and they were also hired to work at the wrap party.

* Both ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' were born because Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, the respective owners of the rights to the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' films, didn't want to see the rights revert back to Marvel Comics, given that they now [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse produce their own films]] (and are owned by Creator/{{Disney}}), making big bucks doing it with megahits like ''Film/TheAvengers'', and therefore won't be licensing out their properties in the foreseeable future. Proving that [[TropesAreTools Tropes are Not Bad]], both films were well-received by critics and moviegoers alike, and were substantial box-office hits... until the latter got [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 a sequel]], which started to show some definite signs of FranchiseZombie and isn't doing as well in the box office.

** Likewise, the upcoming ''[[Film/FantasticFour2015 Fantastic Four]]'' reboot is being made partially to avoid the rights reverting to Marvel.

* Both ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' were born because Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, the respective owners of the rights to the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' films, didn't want to see the rights revert back to Marvel Comics, given that they now [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse produce their own films]] (and are owned by Creator/{{Disney}}), making big bucks doing it with megahits like ''Film/TheAvengers'', and therefore won't be licensing out their properties in the foreseeable future. Proving that [[TropesAreTools Tropes are Not Bad]], both films were well-received by critics and moviegoers alike, and were substantial box-office hits.

* Following the DCImplosion (where DC Comics cancelled a whole bunch of titles all at once) they "published" ''Cancelled Comic Cavalcade'', two 250 page editions of the comics which had been cancelled just to ensure copyright on the stories which had already been written & drawn. Only 35 copies were made, though black-and-white photocopies of the originals exist.

* Following the DCImplosion (where DC Comics cancelled a whole bunch of titles all at once) they "published" ''Cancelled Comic Cavalcade'', two 250 page editions of the comics which had been cancelled just to ensure copyright on the stories which had already been written & drawn. Only 250 copies were made, though black-and-white photocopies of the originals exist.

* Both ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' and ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' were born because Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, the respective owners of the rights to the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' films, didn't want to see the rights revert back to Marvel Comics, given that they now [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse produce their own films]] (and are owned by Creator/{{Disney}}) and therefore won't be licensing out their properties in the foreseeable future. Proving that [[TropesAreTools Tropes are Not Bad]], both films were well-received by critics and moviegoers alike, and were substantial box-office hits.

* ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}: Revelations'' was made in a few weeks so that Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany could hold onto the rights to the ''Hellraiser'' franchise long enough to get a planned remake off the ground. The result is widely regarded as the worst film in a franchise that has seen its fair share of bad sequels, to the point where Creator/CliveBarker (who wrote and directed the original film) publicly [[https://twitter.com/RealCliveBarker/status/105189711416524800 disowned it]].

* The 1966 adaptation of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' was this. Producer Bill Snyder bought the rights to make a film from J.R.R. Tolkien's estate on the cheap, and just before it was set to expire the popularity of Tolkien's ''LordOfTheRings'' books skyrocketed. Realizing he could make serious cash selling the rights, he decided to get it extended. However, a film had to be made and released in order for that to happen. With the contract set to expire in one month, he got Gene Deitch to hastily produce a 12 minute film using still drawings and got it finished in 30 days, which was then screened in a Manhattan theater on the day the contract expired. The deal being fulfilled, the contract was extended and Snyder sold the rights for $100,000 (in 1960s money). In 2012 the film finally resurfaced when Snyder's son [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBnVL1Y2src uploaded it on YouTube]].

* ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}: Revelations'' was made in a few weeks so that the WeinsteinCompany could hold onto the rights to the ''Hellraiser'' franchise long enough to get a planned remake off the ground. The result is widely regarded as the worst film in a franchise that has seen its fair share of bad sequels, to the point where Creator/CliveBarker (who wrote and directed the original film) publicly [[https://twitter.com/RealCliveBarker/status/105189711416524800 disowned it]].

* The [[Film/AtlasShrugged film adaptation]] of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. After [[DevelopmentHell a long series of false starts]], it took the prospect of the film rights reverting to the Creator/AynRand estate to get the owners of the rights to finally put the film into production as a low-budget indie project.

* ''Eerie'' #1 was a hastily assembled digest of horror comic stories with a print run of a few hundred copies, created by publisher James Warren to deny the title to rival publishers Myron Fass and Robert W. Farrell.

* ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}: Revelations'' was made in a few weeks so that the WeinsteinCompany could hold onto the rights to the ''Hellraiser'' franchise long enough to get a planned remake off the ground. The result is widely regarded as the worst film in a franchise that has seen its fair share of bad sequels.

The term originated in TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, when there was a big rush to copyright as many characters and titles as possible, but the actual production time of a comic book made it a bit problematic when days or even hours mattered. The solution? Create a simple mock comic, often just a cover and some unrelated filler made up of garbage sheets, and submit it to the copyright office. The term itself comes from the fact that these comics weren't ever actually made to be distributed, often just going straight to the ashcan (period vernacular for trashcan) once they did their job.

Starting in the DarkAge of comics, an "ashcan" copy of a comic, often black and white and limited in distribution, would sometimes be distributed as a promotional item. These comics were called "ashcans" for marketing reasons (i.e. to imply rarity and value like the Golden Age versions) but really had little to do with [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ashcans.

* "Action Funnies"

* The 1966 adaptation of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' was this. Producer Bill Snyder bought the rights to make a film from J.R.R. Tolkien's estate on the cheap, and just before it was set to expire the popularity of Tolkien's ''LordOfTheRings'' books skyrocketed. Realizing he could make serious cash selling the rights, he decided to get it extended. However a film had to be made and released in order for that to happen. With the contract set to expire in one month, he got Gene Deitch to hastily produce a 12 minute film using still drawings and got it finished in 30 days, which was then screened in a Manhattan theater on the day the contract expired. The deal being fulfilled, the contract was extended and Snyder sold the rights for $100,000 (in 1960s money). In 2012 the film finally resurfaced when Snyder's son [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBnVL1Y2src uploaded it on YouTube]].