Line #55 ScrewedByTheLawyers/LiveActionTV


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4	* When [=TeenNick=] began airing reruns of ''Series/AllThat'' as part of its "The '90s are All That" programming block in 2011, they edited out all of the musical guest performances that closed each episode, along with the introductory sketches for those performances, as paying for the individual rights to each song would be extremely expensive. As such, the episodes tended to end very abruptly.
5	* The DVD release of WB's all-female superhero series ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'' was held up for ''years'' (leading to an awful lot of KeepCirculatingTheTapes) due to music rights issues. The fact that it was ScrewedByTheNetwork (cancelled in its first season despite good reviews and decent ratings, reportedly due to internal network politics) did not help. It was only after years of pleading from the fans that the series got a full release on DVD with a note on the packaging that "some" of the music has been changed for home video release.
6	* ''Series/ColdCase'' has yet to be released on DVD because they've been unable to secure rights to the licensed music used in the episodes. Many episodes used multiple songs from a particular artist, played over ''all'' the flashback sequences as well as the end montage. Because of this, it's impractical to replace or remove the music, but just as impractical to gain the rights because of all the different artists used in a given season.
7	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
8	** A bit of Music/FleetwoodMac's "Oh Well, Part 2" appeared on the soundtrack of Jon Pertwee's debut story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace Spearhead from Space]]" on first broadcast (the stock footage workers in the plastics factory seem to be listening to Radio 1), but the rights were secured only for original transmission and the song was removed for rebroadcasts, exports, and home video release. The version as broadcast no longer exists, but the soundtrack was recreated for the second DVD issue and the Blu-ray, presumably because either Fleetwood Mac reduced their demands, or the success of the revived TV series increased BBC Enterprises' licensing budget.
9	** "Revelation of the Daleks" took a very long time to be released on VHS due to serious music clearance issues - a major character in the story is a FanOfThePast and as a result, many sixties hit records are used as diegetic music in scenes scattered throughout the story. The only song that the BBC was unable to license, either for the VHS or DVD issues, was Music/JimiHendrix's "Fire", which had to be replaced by a generic library music hard rock track - this required particularly complicated audio surgery as there was dialogue over the music track.
10	** To avoid this, the NothingButHits soundtrack of the '50s-Earth-set story "Delta and the Bannermen" consists of cover versions of the songs by the show's then-composer and some of his friends.
11	* ''Series/KidsIncorporated'' hasn't received any DVD releases and hasn't been re-run since the late '90s because a major part of the show was the titular group performing covers of popular songs from the time it aired.
12	* ''Series/LambChopsPlayAlong'', given its extensive use of copyrighted music, got a few select segments on VHS during the '90s and that was it. No DVD releases. No digital releases. No streaming. No proper home releases whatsoever. The only reason ''segments'' ended up on home video instead of full episodes was due to the music in said segments being properly cleared for home video release.
13	* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' never got any DVD releases beyond the first season due to various music the show used being copyrighted. The dialogue of one scene (in which Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek sing along to something on the radio) had to be re-recorded to fit with a different song re-inserted into the scene.
14	* For many years, the theme song of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' (Creator/FrankSinatra's "Love and Marriage") was replaced on the Sony DVD releases with a generic instrumental piece, namely due to licensing problems. The matter was finally sorted out beginning with the third season U.S. DVD, but even then, the track wasn't cleared for use in some regional editions. It wasn't until Mill Creek Entertainment began producing season sets that the full, original intro with the song appeared in all versions.
15	* ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' have had this occur often:
16	** The DVD releases of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' have been repeatedly delayed due to issues with music rights. Several scenes had to be cut from the Season One set because Disney was unable to secure the rights to certain songs used in the show. The Creator/DisneyPlus release of the series restored most, but not all, of the missing musical numbers. The episode starring Creator/BrookeShields had to be [[MissingEpisode left out entirely]] as the episode would not have worked if the songs were cut out.
17	** Completely averted by Jim Henson's other major production, ''Series/FraggleRock'', as it used entirely original music.
18	** This hits the Muppets often, for instance with re-releases of the full-length Christmas special ''Film/AMuppetFamilyChristmas'', where large chunks of the special have to be excised due to music rights, leading to a good deal of KeepCirculatingTheTapes for those who find the special a celebrated part of their Christmas tradition. Even if you can live with the cuts, the special is still screwed since it involves all of Creator/JimHenson's characters: the Muppets, ''Series/SesameStreet'', ''Series/FraggleRock'', and ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies''; and the rights to all of them have been split up.
19	* When reruns of ''Series/NickArcade'' started airing on Nick [=GaS=], twenty episodes were pulled from the rotation. One theory as to why is because the show used a lot of music videos in its puzzles, and Nickelodeon couldn't clear (or didn't feel like clearing) the music rights for every episode. The entire series eventually made its way to Creator/ParamountPlus in 2021. While the theory hasn't been confirmed, it's interesting to note that every episode omitted from [=GaS=] had a music video.
20	* Anyone trying to watch ''Series/QuantumLeap'' on Netflix instant video will be unable to watch the whole series in its entirety. Quite a handful of episodes are removed for legal reasons, most notably because of the music used in said episode. What's worse is that some of these episodes are omitted from the DVD release as well.
21	** In 2017 Mill Creek Entertainment released the full complete series on DVD/Bluray with most of the original music intact.
22	* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Cured", Lister sings a duet with a version of Hitler who has been cured of evil, which was originally meant to be "Africa" by Toto. However, when the record company found out Hitler was involved they refused to license it, and several other companies rejected alternative songs. They settled on "The Happy Wanderer" because it's no longer in copyright.
23	** The beginning of "Terrorform" features James Last's cover of Copacabana, but clearance costs only covered the original broadcast. All repeats and commercial releases substitute a soundalike.
24	* DVD release of ''Series/TheState'' was delayed for years due to music rights. The show first aired on MTV and had the rights to use any music then receiving play on the channel. However, the rights to each song had to be re-negotiated for DVD release.
25	* Since "Main/HappyBirthdayToYou" was still under copyright at the time, a segment in the Season 7 premiere of ''Series/SesameStreet'' on the ''Old School: Volume 2'' DVD ends abruptly after David notices his present from Maria. Also, for the same reason, the home video version of the "Birthdays" episode of ''Series/ElmosWorld'' changes the scenes of Elmo singing the song so that he instead sings variations of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".
26	* Music rights issues are the reason why a home media release of ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' took more than ''three-and-a-half decades'' to come out. Up until its complete series release in 2014, it was one of the biggest cases of KeepCirculatingTheTapes in action. When the show first began airing, it used many popular songs of the era and was a smash hit on television, and the music was inextricably tied to certain scenes (characters would quote entire song verses as the track played in the background, for instance). The producers didn't anticipate that the show would be so popular and only licensed the music for a certain number of years and a certain format (videotape). When the show went into syndication, the licensing issue was dodged by having soundalikes perform replicas of the tracks to avoid paying royalties. However, a home media release was thought to be impossible for many years. Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox DVD attempted to release the series in 2007 but gave up after the release of the first season due to the seemingly insurmountable challenge of negotiating deals with ''several hundred'' artists and[=/=]or their representatives. ([[http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.com/2007/03/wkrp-dvd-not-ok.html Reviews written around the time of the S1 DVD release]] show that nearly ''all'' of the music was either absent or replaced, completely butchering the episodes in the process.) It wasn't until 2014 that Creator/ShoutFactory successfully acquired the rights to many of the songs used throughout the show. Even then, they weren't able to acquire 20% of the songs and had to either replace the music or remove the scene it was tied to altogether.
27	* The streaming versions of the soundtrack-reliant American ''Series/{{Queer as Folk\|US}}'' had much of the music replaced with banal soundalikes, causing significant damage to the story and atmosphere. Among the most frustrating examples is an early episode where the cast are out dancing and, in the original, react with delight to the iconic opening of Music/{{ABBA}}'s "Dancing Queen"; in the streaming version they inexplicably react with delight to ... something completely unremarkable and unrecognizable.
28	* The BBC's ''Series/TopGear'' has had this issue with quite a few episodes as well. Most notable was the Vietnam episode where "Born in the USA" has to be replaced with "The Star-Spangled Banner" because of licensing issues. Not only is the change obvious for anyone who saw the original release, but it kills a joke told by Creator/RichardHammond a minute later.
29	* Many episodes of ''Series/{{Fame}}'' are not available on DVD because of copyright issues involving the music used in the show.
30	* ''Series/TheWonderYears'' wouldn't be released on DVD until 2014 due to its extensive use of licensed songs, and ultimately only 15 songs were removed from the final releases.
31	* The 1980s sitcom ''It's a Living'' is very rarely aired in reruns and has never been commercially on DVD because of the music clearance issues from Sonny the pianist's noodling off all kinds of different standards throughout the show. And despite it running for six seasons, there's simply not enough demand for the show nowadays to make up for the potential cost of clearing the music.
32	* ''Series/JustTheTenOfUs'' is currently unable to be released on DVD due to music clearance issues for the episodes with the Lubbock Babes singing.
33	* ''Series/Charmed1998'': Shortly before the final season was released on DVD the license for the show's theme tune, a cover of "How Soon is Now" by Love Spit Love, lapsed forcing the producers to replace it with a generic instrumental. When the show became available for streaming via Creator/{{Netflix}} and Amazon Prime the theme tune had been replaced on every single episode. Thankfully the producers were able to get the rights to the song back in time for the HD remaster in 2018.
34	* Due to the show using real songs from various artists, ''Series/JacksBigMusicShow'' has never seen a release on streaming, and only has four episodes available for purchase on Amazon.
35	* ''Series/{{Witchblade}}'' used a lot of classic rock songs in its soundtrack that had to be replaced with generic atmospheric music on the DVD set due to rights issues.
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39	* The 1960s ''Series/{{Batman\|1966}}'' series had such complex licensing problems that the general assumption was that it would simply never be legally released in a home video format until it entered public domain near the end of the 21st century, that is, until it was announced that it would ''indeed'' gain a DVD release in November 2014. As was reported by [[https://www.wired.com/2014/11/batman-home-video-finally/ this Wired article]] from circa the DVD release, the ownership was split between Greenway Productions (who owned the footage), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox (who had the distribution rights) and Creator/WarnerBros (who owned the characters via their acquisition of Creator/DCComics). Making matters worse, Greenway's shares in the series were split among William Dozier's children and lawyers upon his death. Eventually, Classic Media managed to acquire the Greenway shares, which were then bought by Fox, and Fox and Warner Bros. finally worked out a deal to get the series out on DVD and Blu-ray.
40	* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' 50th Anniversary DVD boxset also includes all of the Series/BradyBunchSpinOffs and [[Film/TheBradyBunch movies]], except for ''The Brady Bunch Variety Hour''. Due to rights issues with Creator/SidAndMartyKrofftProductions and various musicians, Creator/{{CBS}}[=/=]Creator/{{Paramount}} can't sell it on DVD.
41	* ''Series/TheCharmings'' got complaints by the Creator/{{Disney}} Company when ABC was run by Capital Cities since it was an unauthorized parody of ''WesternAnimation/{{Snow White\|AndTheSevenDwarfs}}''. It's unclear whether this or low ratings ultimately led to its cancellation. Disney does now own ABC, opening up the possibility of a DVD release, though the heavy discouragement of press comparisons with the later show ''Series/OnceUponATime'' by the network suggests that it considers it an AudienceAlienatingEra program. It should also be noted that ABC never owned the rights to ''The Charmings''. Sony currently owns the program, so a chance of a DVD release seems moot.
42	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
43	** A scene involving Music/TheBeatles was deleted from the VHS release of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase The Chase]]" (it's in the Region 2 DVD). This example is particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}}, as that clip is the only surviving portion of The Beatles' performance at Albert Hall (which was wiped from BBC archives for the same reason a lot of early ''Doctor Who'' was as well) and survived only because it was incorporated into the episode. These deletions fit the trope as well because it was done in large part because the contracts with the actors' union in the period prohibited broadcasting any television program more than twice (and the entirely incorrect view of the BBC management that black and white programming was unsellable overseas).
44	** The 1996 [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie TV movie]] was thought to be [[NoExportForYou permanently unavailable outside the British Commonwealth]] due to this (Universal TV owned the movie itself and the characters created for it outright in the USA, while the BBC owned all previously-existing elements of the ''Doctor Who'' franchise). The warring rights-holders decided to bury the hatchet and a worldwide DVD release came in February 2011.
45	** Subverted with the rights to ''Doctor Who'' itself; a consequence of the rights deal between the BBC and Universal for the TVM was that it spawned a myth within the BBC that they'd done something with the rights to ''Doctor Who'' linked to that deal that would have to be addressed to bring the series back, which they hadn't, though it took until animated webcast "WebAnimation/ScreamOfTheShalka" and Creator/RussellTDavies' initial commission for the revival series for that to be cleared up. To the extent there actually ''was'' a problem with bringing the series back, it was more internal to the BBC; BBC TV wanted to bring it back to TV, but BBC Films and BBC Worldwide wanted to make a film and claimed priority, and when the film eventually failed to pan out, BBC TV pushed ahead with the revival. (Part of BBC Worldwide's insistence on a film was the perception that the Daleks were key to the public memory of the series, and without the rights to the Daleks - which belong to Terry Nation's estate - they thought a film would have the scale of budget to potentially overcome the Daleks' absence.)
46	** When the BBC set out to make every existing episode of the series available on [=iPlayer=] in 2023, Stef Coburn, son of scriptwriter Anthony Coburn, refused permission for the first serial, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E1AnUnearthlyChild "An Unearthly Child"]], preventing the BBC from putting it up.
47	* The Australian version of the game show "It's a Knockout" was axed after three seasons, not due to low ratings but because of noise complaints from residents living near the sports ground where the show was taped. Due to lack of a suitable venue in Australia and insurance reasons, the IAK revival series was shot in Malaysia.
48	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': NoAdaptationsAllowed still applies for Third Age material from the [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Legendarium]] (the era covered in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and the Creator/PeterJackson movie adaptations), hence the series being set in the Second Age. However, Amazon apparently doesn't own the rights to adapt any material from ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', ''[[Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth Unfinished Tales]]'', ''Literature/TheHistoryOfMiddleEarth'' series, Tolkien's collected ''Letters'', or any other later books of his material (i.e. the overwhelming majority of First and Second Age material) either. They only have rights to ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and thus they're basically relying on the tiny fraction of First and Second Age material referenced within ''The Lord of the Rings'', the bulk of which are in its Appendices (the show even credits ''The Lord of the Rings'' and its Appendices separately). As stated by [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/10-burning-questions-about-amazons-the-rings-of-power/ the showrunners:]]
49	-->'''J.D. Payne''': We have the rights solely to ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', ''The Two Towers'', ''The Return of the King'', the appendices, and ''The Hobbit''. And that is it. We do not have the rights to ''The Silmarillion'', ''Unfinished Tales'', ''The History of Middle-earth'', or any of those other books.
50	-->'''Patrick [=McKay=]''': There’s a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to. As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.
51	* When Creator/LouisTheroux decided in 2021 to do a follow-up to his 2011 documentary on Joe Exotic and the GW zoo in light of the surreal events that had occurred in the interim, he discovered that the producers of ''Series/TigerKing'' had locked down most of its cast in exclusive contracts that made it impossible for them to appear in any other documentary works, especially since none of the 8 or so people he had contacted mentioned this to him. He's even forced to edit out the appearance of a man under a similar contract when he accidentally walked into frame.
52	* The NFL allegedly stepped in and told ESPN to no longer correspond with PBS, or have their reporters contribute to the ''Frontline'' documentary ''League of Denial'' involving concussions and brain damage among players in the league. The writers of the tie-in book worked for ESPN and continued to work with ''Frontline'' independently, though without the Worldwide Leader's backing.
53	* ''Series/MastersOfSex'', loosely based on the lives and research of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, renowned sexuality researchers of the 1950s and 1960s, faced undisclosed legal issues in its third season requiring several plot changes and deviations from the true story. [[spoiler: For example, in the show, Johnson had a third child with her husband in 1965 and remarried her ex-husband. In reality, Johnson only had two children, remained divorced from her ex-husband, and married Masters in 1971.]]
54	* Possibly a reason why episodes of ''Series/{{Maury}}'' prior to September 1998 are no longer rerun or showcased. That bulk of the series is owned by CBS, while all episodes after that era have been produced by [=NBCUniversal=]. The relationship between the two has been so sour that not even Maury Povich himself has been able to get the two to make up and allow the episodes to be shown again.
55	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
56	** The show got hit with this during the Volume 10 release of [=DVD=]s. One of them was ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon'' and had been available for a short while. Then, Toho stepped in and refused. A Volume 10.2 was soon released with a special Host Segment created to show why the movie wasn't included, and with instructions on how to dispose properly of the offending disc of "[[RunningGag (unintelligble) vs. (unintelligible)]]". [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes It's anyone's guess how many people actually followed the instructions and instead kept the disc.]]
57	*** Daiei and later Kadokawa was also extremely strict about the Gamera films featured, them being the last films to be allowed repeat viewings, and only then for a very limited time. Supposedly, the Kadokawa executives were horrified to see ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' rip into the Gamera films, creating bad blood that Shout!'s best negotiating couldn't resolve. This is also arguably a case of ValuesDissonance, as Japanese studio executives are not accustomed to content mocking their work[[note]]See, for example, Toei Animation's similar bad blood with Team Four Star over ''Dragon Ball Abridged''[[/note]] and will adamantly not provide the permission to allow it to happen.
58	** Until 2013, Creator/ShoutFactory couldn't release the episode featuring ''Film/ThePumaman'' because no one knew who to contact.
59	** With the entire series released on DVD now, there are certain episodes that cannot be released due to this trope, forcing Shout! to release just all of the remaining host segments in one DVD.
60	* While most of the ''Series/PerryMason'' franchise is available on home video, ''The New Perry Mason'' hasn't been seen since its ill-fated run on CBS, and not just because [[OldShame CBS disavows its existence]]. ''The New Perry Mason'' is owned by Fox (who, ironically, provided studio facilities for CBS to film the original ''Perry Mason'' series in), so CBS has no legal authority to release anything from that series despite owning the franchise. Unless the two come to an unlikely agreement, forget about trying to look for it.
61	* In 2003, ESPN aired a series called ''Playmakers'' which was a depiction of the behind-the-scenes actions of players of a fictional pro football team (in a fictional league). However, the NFL, who was in the midst of a new lucrative deal with ESPN, were not pleased with the stark, unflattering look at the world of pro football, and pressured the network to scuttle the show after one season, which they obliged. Several pro players like Warren Sapp praised the show for its realistic (to a point) depiction of football players and their shortcomings in the world and criticized both the league and the network for trying to scrub anything negative about the sport. Later on, the ''Playmakers'' name was used to market a line of cheap footballs and basketballs with ESPN branding.
62	* The creators of ''Series/TheSandman2022'' were unable to secure the rights to [[Characters/{{Hellblazer}} John Constantine]], because Creator/DCComics wanted to feature the character for a potential HBO Max series. His role in the series is instead played by [[DistaffCounterpart Johanna Constantine]] (named after John's ancestor from the comics, who also appears in the series).
63	* ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' and the original ''Series/TheBionicWoman'' were withheld from North American VHS or DVD video release for close to 30 ''years'' due to rights issues, before a breakthrough was reached that allowed their release in late 2010.
64	* The reason for the almost-10 years long absence of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' TV series between ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' and ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery''. [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/16/how-rights-issues-killed-a-new-star-trek-tv-show See here for more details]]. For a Cliff Notes version - ''Star Trek'' was produced by Creator/DesiluStudios back in the '60s. Creator/{{Paramount}} bought Desilu during ''Trek'''s run and would hold on to the rights for many decades, even after Creator/{{Viacom}} purchased Paramount. In 2005, Viacom opted to split its movie and television divisions in two, creating a new Viacom and a restructured CBS Corporation, having bought the old CBS six years prior, which merged with CBS' in-house studio to become CBS Paramount and, later, CBS Studios. This is where things got messy - the ''Star Trek'' franchise was now split in two as Paramount had the rights to make movies and CBS had the rights to make TV shows. Creator/BadRobot, Creator/JJAbrams' studio, wanted to make a massive multimedia franchise out of the reboot ''Star Trek'' film series, but CBS, content on fueling nostalgia and sticking with their old TV universe, would refuse. It wouldn't be until November 2, 2015, that ''Discovery'' was announced and it was specifically mentioned that it would be set in CBS's TV universe -- dormant for a decade since ''Enterprise''[='=]s ending -- rather than Paramount's film universe. For the shortest and simplest answer, rights to ''Star Trek'' shifted hands three times, the third of which saw them being split between rights to TV and film productions, and it started a rift between whose visions for the franchise got the green light because both camps hissed at each other's ideas.
65	** The same issue affects any revival of ''Series/MissionImpossible''. Despite the massive success of the [[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries film series]], there hasn't been a new ''Mission: Impossible'' television show since the 1988 revival was canceled in 1990, ''six years'' before the [[Film/MissionImpossible first film]] was released. Like ''Star Trek'', CBS owns the ''Mission: Impossible'' intellectual property while Paramount owns all movie rights pertaining to the series, meaning that as long as the two parties don't see eye-to-eye there may never be another ''M: I'' series for the foreseeable future. There are other factors affecting this beyond ownership complications, as the revival wasn't that well-received to begin with and Creator/PeterGraves died in 2010, meaning that Jim Phelps will have to be either [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] or replaced.
66	** In August 2019, CBS and Viacom re-merged into one company, so there's at least a possibility of some synchronicity with the ''Star Trek'' and ''Mission: Impossible'' franchises again. This was first shown in ''Discovery'' Season 3 when the Kelvin Timeline (the official name for the reboot universe) is mentioned as an example of a parallel universe and a 24th century Kelvin Timeline native who ended up in the future of the prime universe is used to demonstrate the danger [[spoiler:Georgiou, a 23rd century native of the MirrorUniverse,]] is in.
67	* In October 2019, the popular Spanish quiz show ''Pasapalabra'' was briefly taken off the air due to a dispute over rights to the format between Mediaset and Creator/{{ITV}}; the show was originally an adaptation of ''The Alphabet Game'' -- a short-lived BBC PanelGame. Over its run in the country, it had evolved with new elements (influenced from an Italian version; the version as seen on ''Pasapalabra'' was also the basis of an ITV adaptation in 2016, ''Alphabetical''), including its final jackpot round ''El rosco'' (a timed SpeedRound where contestants must answer a clue representing each letter in the alphabet to win a progressive jackpot). After having [[ChannelHop acquired the show from the competing channel Antena 3]], Mediaset disputed a demand by ITV for rights fees (where they would take over production of the show and receive 10% of its revenue), as they argued that the show's format was distinct from ''The Alphabet Game'' due to these changes. The court, however, thought otherwise; soon afterward, Antena 3 bought the rights to the show back.
68	* In 2023, Creator/{{Mattel}} started blocking a select number of episodes of ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'' from Website/YouTube due to them containing classic ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episodes. Not helping matters is that ''STS'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes does not yet have an official release on DVD or streaming services]].
69	* Shout! Factory's failure to secure licenses may explain why twelve live-action segments from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' went missing from their DVD sets. At least three of them managed to be streamed online, but there's still no word on whether or not the other nine segments will ever see the light of day again.
70	* With the exception of ''WesternAnimation/SaltysLighthouse'' and ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' (the latter was officially uploaded to Website/YouTube in 2020), any preschool show that used imported cartoons as a FramingDevice will probably never see the light of day again due to rights needing to be cleared for the shows they are a framing device for. These include ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'', ''The Fox Cubhouse'', ''Series/BigBag'', the Lacey Entertainment version of ''WesternAnimation/TheMrMenShow'', ''[[Series/CaptainKangaroo Mr. Moose's Fun Time]]'' and ''Someday School''.
71	* ''Series/TomorrowsPioneers'' was a children's show created by the [[UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} Palestinian]] governing authority and [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror terrorist organization]] Hamas, [[TykeBomb seeking to groom their kids into warriors against Israel]] with a MockyMouse named Farfour, prompting Creator/{{Disney}} to threaten legal action with Creator/WaltDisney's daughter Diane outright calling it evil. Crazy enough to take on America but not Disney's lawyers, the showrunners had Farfour KilledOffForReal in episode 5 by having him beaten to death by an Israeli official. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids Keep in mind the show's target audience was five-year-olds.]]
72	* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' franchise was almost impossible to distribute outside of Asia until 2017, as the first six shows (''Series/UltraQ'', ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'', ''Series/UltraSeven'', ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', ''Series/UltramanAce'', and ''Series/UltramanTaro'') were tangled in a lengthy and dramatic legal dispute between the original creators, Creator/TsuburayaProductions, and Thai company Chaiyo Productions, who had done several co-productions with the former throughout the 70's. [[http://ultra.wikia.com/wiki/Ultra_Series/Licensing_Disputes Full story here.]]
73	* ''Series/TheGoodies'' changed a TakeThat cameo of [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] to Creator/JonPertwee for the DVD release.
74	* The streaming service Nosey began streaming the first seasons of courtroom shows ''Texas Justice'', ''Judge Alex'' and ''Cristina's Court'' in the summer of 2018, right as the shows' producer/owner Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox was getting bought out by Creator/{{Disney}}. The shows were pulled after just a year of streaming, without any new episodes added. It's unclear whether or not Disney plans to add the shows on Creator/{{Hulu}}.
75	* ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'': Bruce Campbell implied in an interview that nothing that could explicitly be tied to ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'' was included because Universal (who own the rights to that entry) wanted an obscene amount of money for using elements from it. These issues were cleared up in time for seasons 2-3 as both openly reference and acknowledge the events of ''Army of Darkness''.
76	* The creators of ''Series/FraggleRock'' originally named the characters "Woozles", but changed it because there were already characters named Woozles in ''WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh''.
77	* Due to rights disputes between the Chespirito estate and Televisa, ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' and ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' were removed from broadcasting worldwide from July 31, 2020, to the dismay of fans.
78	* An episode of the first series of ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' (entitled "Teeny Poppers") featured a PatientOfTheWeek who fell off a balcony whilst dressed as Spider-Man. When the time came to release the series on DVD, rights issues with Marvel meant the scenes where he was dressed as Spider-Man couldn't be cleared, and there was no way to only remove the offending scenes and still have what was left make sense, so the entire subplot was cut out, leaving the episode several minutes shorter than all the others.
79	* As a result of rights issues involving the shorts within the show, Creator/{{Noggin}}'s airings of ''Series/EureekasCastle'' were shortened to 30 minutes. This was also the version used by Creator/ParamountPlus.
80	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E06SpiderInTheWeb Spider in the Web]]" featured a NoSuchAgency within [=EarthGov=] called Bureau 13, which Captain Sheridan brings up as a possible explanation for the episode's events. Sometime between filming and airing, somebody on the show found out there was an unrelated tabletop RPG titled ''TabletopGame/Bureau13StalkingTheNightFantastic'', and therefore [[AbortedArc the studio canned any further exploration of the agency]] and Sheridan's ConspiracyTheorist hobby out of an abundance of caution. Fortunately, the only member of the agency depicted was wearing a [=PsiCorps=] badge, so it didn't take much rewriting to fix the gap.
81	* The 1984 documentary ''Dinosaurs'' hosted by Creator/GaryOwens and Eric Boardman was not released to home video as a result of licensing issues with Disney related to clips of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' and segments shot at Epcot's [[Ride/EllensEnergyAdventure Universe of Energy]]. They worked around this for the 2024 ''Dinosaurs Forever'' set by recreating the Epcot scenes with animations and simple props and having people re-enact the ''Rite of Spring'' by mashing inflatable dinosaur toys together while humming the tune.
82	[[/folder]]

Context ScrewedByTheLawyers / LiveActionTV