<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/germany" rel="" target="" title="German"><span>German</span></a><span> judge ordered the destruction of all copies of one of the most influential films of all time after its release on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" rel="" target="" title="March 4, 1922"><span>March 4, 1922</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Nosferatu</span></em><span> depicted a vampire from a </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/property/news/surprise-prince-charles-owns-a-farmhouse-in-transylvania/a504e93c-7f66-455d-a2f6-09680d9c72a1" rel="" target="" title="Transylvanian castle"><span>Transylvanian castle</span></a><span> terrorising a German town.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The silent film was a big hit and remains one of the </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/quizzical/221029-horror-movies/a826c4f9-6b0f-49e3-a642-6d84122ef803" rel="" target="" title="most important horror movies"><span>most important horror movies</span></a><span> ever made.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-25-what-happened-on-this-day-zyzzyx-road/a4c4cbcd-5d42-4ecd-8625-cb9343c93178"><strong><span>Only six people saw the biggest flop of all time</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/head-of-nosferatu-director-reportedly-stolen-from-grave/edcc4b78-c100-46c1-957a-384a5df26a14" rel="" target="" title="director FW Murnau"><span>director FW Murnau</span></a><span> found themselves in a legal battle with the widow of another creator of vampire fiction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Florence Stoker sued Murnau, arguing that </span><em><span>Nosferatu</span></em><span> was a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-september-23-what-happened-on-this-day-charade-copyright-error/5df60beb-3ff9-454d-9e4f-607c0cf081f8" rel="" target="" title="copyright infringement"><span>copyright infringement</span></a><span> of her late husband Bram's work, the novel </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/real-dracula-who-was-vlad-the-impaler-explainer/e08ae5bc-3ee3-483d-bd10-391060cd8dc3" rel="" target="" title="Dracula"><em><span>Dracula</span></em></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Dracula</span></em><span>, which had been published 25 years earlier, also told the story of a Transylvanian vampire terrorising an English town.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-march-4-what-happened-on-this-day-nosferatu/8fe0b05e-517d-461d-bdb3-3f847f1dff1b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the book, Count Dracula is killed with a stake to the heart. In </span><em><span>Nosferatu</span></em><span>, the villain dies from exposure to sunlight - the first time a vampire was depicted as dying that way.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-february-5-what-happened-on-this-day/fd3ab70d-3622-47b7-bd02-b11bdf46e5f5"><strong><span>Comedy taken off air mid-episode after just ten minutes</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the original novel, exposure to sunlight wasn't fatal to vampires, but was irritating.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After a court battle that lasted several years, the judge ruled in favour of Stoker's widow, and all copies of the film were ordered destroyed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In Germany, every reel was destroyed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The film would have been lost forever were it not for several copies in the United States which were kept in breach of the judge's orders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A bureaucratic error meant the book </span><em><span>Dracula</span></em><span> never had a legal copyright in the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The novel was never a massive hit during Stoker's lifetime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-september-23-what-happened-on-this-day-charade-copyright-error/5df60beb-3ff9-454d-9e4f-607c0cf081f8" target="" title="Tiny oversight cost beloved movie its copyright"><strong><span>Tiny oversight cost beloved movie its copyright</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ironically enough, it was the countless film adaptations of the book that made it a bestseller in the subsequent decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Dracula archetype was set by the 1931 version.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The English-language version starring Bela Lugosi was filmed during the daytime. At night, another cast filmed the same movie on the same sets, but speaking Spanish.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Critics argue the Spanish version is better directed despite being functionally identical.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>Nosferatu</span></em><span> itself would be remade multiple times, including </span><a href="https://style.nine.com.au/latest/nosferatu-premiere-celebrity-arrivals-outfits-in-pictures/b65dd842-82ac-4f58-9b0a-77ae8f282092" rel="" target="" title="twice in the past three years"><span>twice in the past three years</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Because it has now entered the public domain, </span><em><span>Nosferatu</span></em><span> no longer holds a copyright.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/the-greatest-movies-of-all-time-top-20-definitive-list/aa3d91c2-532f-4078-a1ab-922904ccd0b7" rel="" target="" title="The top 20 greatest movies of all time, ranked"><strong><span>The top 20 greatest movies of all time, ranked</span></strong></a></div></div>