This day in history. German actor Max Schreck was born on this day in 1879. The world mostly knows Schreck for one thing, his portrayal of Count Orloff in the 1922 classic silent film Nosferatu.
We can thank movie pirates that we know of Max Schreck at all.
"The German silent film “Nosferatu — Eine Symphonie des Grauens” from 1922 is another example about how copyright laws can harm the society.
Today it is seen as a milestone in the film history, and not because of the story. But it was nearly lost for good.
The film is loosely based on the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. But the film makers couldn’t get the rights to make a film of this novel. So they changed all names and changed the story a little. But Florence Stoker, the widow of Bram Stoker sued, and a court ordered that all copies of the film have to be destroyed.
But copies of the film have already been sold to foreign countries, which were not bound to German law. So these copies could be saved from destruction. Today there is a German “restored” version. But this version was mostly restored from the foreign copies.
The film is still under copyright in Germany. But it seems it is in the public domain in the USA. So the English version is available on the internet today (This version uses the names of the novel, but the original film had other names in it)." Source
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