{{Short description|General term for inaccessible media}} {{About|lost audiovisual media|other types of lost works|Lost literary work|and|Lost artworks}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} [[File:London After Midnight Poster 1927 MGM.jpg|thumb|right|Theatrical release poster for the lost film ''London After Midnight''; its last known copy was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire<ref>{{cite book|last1=Soister|first1=John|last2=Nicolella|first2=Henry|last3=Joyce|first3=Steve|last4=Long|first4=Harry|title=American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913–1929|date=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786435814|page=333}}</ref>]] '''Lost media''' is any type of media thought to no longer exist in any format, or for which no copies can be located, partial or otherwise. The term primarily encompasses visual, audio, or audiovisual media, such as films, television, radio broadcasts, music,<ref name="Blanchet2020">{{cite web|last=Blanchet|first=Brenton|date=April 21, 2020|url=https://i-d.co/article/internet-community-unearthing-lost-episodes-favourite-childhood-shows/|title=The internet community unearthing lost episodes from your childhood faves|work=i-D|publisher=Vice Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711162216/https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/z3ba4a/internet-community-unearthing-lost-episodes-favourite-childhood-shows|archive-date=July 11, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> and video games.<ref>{{cite web|last=Forrest|first=Eleanor|date=March 8, 2022|url=https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-features/meet-raven-simone-the-youtuber-who-discovered-the-lost-mean-girls-video-game-3178248|title=Meet Raven Simone, the YouTuber who discovered the lost ''Mean Girls'' video game|work=NME|publisher=NME Networks|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308162205/https://www.nme.com/features/gaming-features/meet-raven-simone-the-youtuber-who-discovered-the-lost-mean-girls-video-game-3178248|archivedate=March 8, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bell|first=Brendan|date=September 16, 2021|url=https://www.theverge.com/22675716/lost-media-youtube-mean-girls|title=Meet the YouTubers determined to find lost media|work=The Verge|publisher=Vox Media|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916143837/https://www.theverge.com/22675716/lost-media-youtube-mean-girls|archivedate=September 16, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
Many television and radio broadcast masters, recorded onto magnetic tape, may be lost due to the industry practice of wiping. Motion picture studios also often destroyed their original nitrate film elements, as film and broadcast material was often considered ephemeral and of little historical worth after they had made their revenue. Some media considered lost may exist in studio or public archives, but may not be available to most people due to copyright or donor restriction rules, or for the most part, complete disinterest by anyone in an outdated program or subject matter.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hughes|first=William|date=June 18, 2022|url=https://www.avclub.com/lost-wicked-witch-sesame-street-episode-online-1849081598|title=A 'lost,' 'too-scary' episode of ''Sesame Street'' has been uploaded to the internet|work=The A.V. Club|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618231657/https://www.avclub.com/lost-wicked-witch-sesame-street-episode-online-1849081598|archivedate=June 18, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the unstable nature of any format, films, tapes, phonograph records, optical discs like CDs, Blu-ray discs, and DVDs, and digital data stored on devices such as USB flash drives, SD cards, solid-state drives, and hard disk drives, all naturally degrade over time, especially if not kept in correct storage conditions.
Preservation efforts attempt to avoid the loss of works; this is usually done by storing them in archives.
== Lost films == {{main|Lost film}} {{further|List of lost films}} A large portion of silent films made in the United States are now considered lost.<ref>{{cite web|last=Pierce|first=David|title=The Survival of American Silent Films: 1912-1929|url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/pub158.final_version_sept_2013.pdf|website=Library Of Congress|publisher=Council on Library and Information Resources and the Library of Congress|accessdate=November 18, 2020|archive-date=May 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517101219/https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/pub158.final_version_sept_2013.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2013 report made by the United States Library of Congress estimates that 70 percent of silent films made in the United States have been completely lost.<ref name="loc">{{cite press release|title=Library Reports on America's Endangered Silent-Film Heritage|date=December 4, 2013|publisher=Library of Congress|url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2013/13-209.html|access-date=March 7, 2014|work=News from the Library of Congress|issn=0731-3527}}</ref>
==Lost television broadcasts== {{main|Lost television broadcast}} Most lost television broadcasts are early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives or in personal archives. A majority of lost television broadcasts are lost due to deliberate destruction (such as a technique used in the early days of television called wiping) or neglect.<ref>{{Cite web |last=says |first=Cherry Gale |date=2024-07-02 |title=Unravelling the mystery of lost television |url=https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/unravelling-the-mystery-of-lost-television/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=National Science and Media Museum blog |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-05 |title=How Was Early Television Preserved? |url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection-2/lost-programs/lost-programs-early-television-preserved/ |access-date=2024-09-10 |website=Paley Center |language=en-US}}</ref> The earliest television broadcasts were live broadcasts that were never recorded in any capacity to begin with due to a lack of recording equipment or interest at the time.
==Lost music== {{See also|Rare groove|Lostwave}} The Library of Congress estimates that a large portion of the earliest musical recordings, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, have been lost. For example, only two percent of the over 3000 wax cylinders produced by the North American Phonograph Company between 1889 and 1894 are part of the National Recording Preservation Board's sound recording library {{as of|2024|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|date=n.d.|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/about-this-program/donations/lost-recording-list/|title=Lost Recording List|publisher=National Recording Preservation Board. Library of Congress|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019122403/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/about-this-program/donations/lost-recording-list/|archivedate=October 19, 2023}}</ref>
A concept related to lost music is "lostwave", a term coined on the Internet for extant recordings of music for which little to no information about its authors or origin exists. Some examples of lostwave, such as "Subways of Your Mind" and "Ulterior Motives", both of which were eventually identified in 2024, have been the subjects of online crowdsourced research.<ref name="dazed">{{Cite web|date=February 27, 2024|title=Lostwave: how the internet became obsessed with lost songs|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/62053/1/lostwave-youtube-everyone-knows-that-reddit-lost-songs-like-the-wind|access-date=April 29, 2024|website=Dazed|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=O'Grady|first=Carrie|date=February 28, 2024|title=Everyone Knows That: can you identify the lost 80s hit baffling the internet?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/28/everyone-knows-that-can-you-identify-the-lost-80s-hit-baffling-the-internet|access-date=May 22, 2024|website=The Guardian|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=April 29, 2024|title=Mysterious Viral '80s Song "Everybody Knows That" Finally Identified After Three-Year Hunt|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2261440/mysterious-viral-80s-song-everybody-knows-that-finally-identified-after-three-year-hunt/news/|access-date=May 22, 2024|website=Stereogum|language=en}}</ref>
==Lost video games== {{Further information|Video game preservation}} Video games, including digital downloads, often fade from existence when digital game stores close, as demonstrated by the Wii Shop Channel, Xbox Live Arcade, V Cast Network, and the Nintendo eShop. ''P.T.'', a teaser to the unreleased ''Silent Hill'' game ''Silent Hills'', became unable to be redownloaded after its removal from the PlayStation Network within a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/5/8557807/pt-silent-hills-demo-pulled|title=Konami pulls P.T. from PlayStation Store, no longer available for re-download (update)|website=Polygon|publisher=Vox Media|access-date=March 11, 2023|last1=McWhertor|first1=Michael|last2=Sarkar|first2=Samit|date=May 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519035901/http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/5/8557807/pt-silent-hills-demo-pulled|archive-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS digital download games ''Dodge Club Party'' and ''Dodge Club Pocket'' were removed from Nintendo eShop in 2019 and 2022 and became publicly unavailable due to reasons beyond Nintendo's control.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/01/another-game-has-been-delisted-from-nintendos-3ds-eshop|title=Another Game Has Been Delisted from Nintendo eShop|date=January 25, 2022|website=Nintendo Life}}</ref>
According to the Video Game History Foundation, 87% of American video games released before 2010 are out of print and cannot be acquired outside of the grey market or piracy. Many of these titles are in danger of becoming lost or already are.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilde|first=Thomas|date=July 12, 2023|title=Researchers find 87% of U.S. classic video games are out of print and 'critically endangered'|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2023/researchers-find-87-of-u-s-classic-video-games-are-out-of-print-and-critically-endangered/|access-date=April 1, 2024|website=GeekWire}}</ref> Some video game enthusiasts argue that out of respect for both the original designers and the fans of the game, video game publishers have a duty to make sure that the game remains accessible.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTkxzQDo0ng|title=The best game Ubisoft won't let you play|date=2019-08-22|last=Nick Robinson (Babylonian)|access-date=2024-10-04|via=YouTube|type=Video}}</ref> Video game preservationists, including both organizations such as the Video Game History Foundation and hobbyists, seek to preserve video game history that would have otherwise been lost to time due to a variety of factors, such as degrading storage mediums, digital game stores closing, or the game becoming unavailable because of licensing or financial issues. Their motivations include that the games hold cultural and historical value or can be educational material for the future.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Cerezo-Pizarro|first1=Mario|last2=Revuelta-Domínguez|first2=Francisco-Ignacio|last3=Guerra-Antequera|first3=Jorge|last4=Melo-Sánchez|first4=Jairo|date=November 2023|title=The Cultural Impact of Video Games: A Systematic Review of the Literature|journal=Education Sciences|language=en|volume=13|issue=11|pages=1116|doi=10.3390/educsci13111116|doi-access=free|issn=2227-7102}}</ref>
== Lost electronic data == {{Further|Digital dark age|Digital obsolescence}} Data stored in electronic computers risks being lost if it is not frequently migrated into more recent file formats. This happens because as new computer systems are developed and new technologies are built, now obsolete systems may break down over time, leaving the data inside inaccessible.<ref>{{cite web|title=Long-term Digital Storage: Simple Steps to Get Started|url=http://www.historyassociates.com/blog/archives/long-term-digital-storage-simple-steps-to-get-started|date=September 23, 2013|access-date=January 24, 2023|work=History Associates|first=Jessica|last=Scott|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808114509/http://www.historyassociates.com/blog/archives/long-term-digital-storage-simple-steps-to-get-started/|archivedate=August 8, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Electronic data preservation is further complicated by the fact that unless an emulator for a given computer system which can decode the data is present at the time of the preservation, the original data may become inaccessible as the original hardware breaks down, as it may depend on the original hardware to be decoded,<ref>{{cite web|title=What is emulation?|url=http://www.kb.nl/en/organisation/research-expertise/research-on-digitisation-and-digital-preservation/emulation|access-date=January 24, 2023|work=Koninklijke Bibliotheek|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024005119/https://www.kb.nl/en/organisation/research-expertise/research-on-digitisation-and-digital-preservation/emulation/what-is-emulation|archivedate=October 24, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> although in some cases the original data may be recoverable through lengthy reverse engineering work with the objective of understanding the original computer system enough to decode the most original electronic data possible.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/20/science/lost-on-earth-wealth-of-data-found-in-space.html|title=Lost on Earth: Wealth of Data Found in Space|work=The New York Times|first=Sandra|last=Blakeslee|date=March 20, 1990|access-date=January 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109203504/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/20/science/lost-on-earth-wealth-of-data-found-in-space.html|archive-date= November 9, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
To mitigate the loss of their data, the Arctic World Archive has been the chosen location for the preservation of the code on public repositories on GitHub.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/15/github-store-public-open-source-code-arctic-vault/|title=GitHub will store all of its public open source code in an Arctic vault|website=Engadget|date=November 15, 2019|language=en|access-date=January 21, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115221339/https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/15/github-store-public-open-source-code-arctic-vault/|archive-date=November 15, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Arctic World Archive also stores a wide range of data of interest to multiple companies, institutions and governments; including the Constitutions of Brazil and Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Look inside the doomsday vault that may hold the world's most important data|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/innovation/look-inside-doomsday-vault-may-hold-world-s-most-important-n769341|access-date=January 21, 2023|website=NBC News|date=June 7, 2017|language=en}}</ref>
=== Lost internet media === {{See also|Link rot}} {{anchor|Lost internet media}}Media released on the internet, such as file sharing, livestreams and blog posts, are especially vulnerable to loss.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Adam |title=We're about to enter the Digital Dark Ages |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/digital-dark-ages-internet-history-old-websites-disappearing-link-rot-2024-10 |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kanev |first=Gabriel |date=2025-08-26 |title=Why Digital Preservation Is Failing |url=https://gkanev.com/posts/why-digital-preservation-is-failing/ |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=Gabriel Kanev |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rall |first=Ted |date=2015-12-22 |title=The Digital Dark Ages: Movies and Books Get Deleted as Selfies Pile Up |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/12/22/the-digital-dark-ages-movies-and-books-get-deleted-as-selfies-pile-up/ |access-date=2026-05-29 |website=CounterPunch.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Media released solely to streaming services without a physical release is sometimes withdrawn from further distribution, leaving no means to obtain the media outside of piracy. The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes it as "a whole new kind of lost media [that is] only going to be preserved by those individuals who did the work to make and save copies of it, often risking draconian legal liability, regardless of how the studio feels about that work".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hollywood's Insistence on New Draconian Copyright Rules Is Not About Protecting Artists|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/09/hollywoods-insistence-new-draconian-copyright-rules-not-about-protecting-artists|access-date=September 1, 2022|website=Electronic Frontier Foundation|date=September 1, 2022|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Netflix is a Ticking Time-Bomb of Lost Media|url=https://cise.ufl.edu/~dmix/blog/05-16-2022.html|access-date=May 16, 2022|website=University of Florida|date=May 16, 2022|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title="It's a Silent Fire": Decaying Digital Movie and TV Show Files Are a Hollywood Crisis|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/digital-preservation-film-tv-shows-archives-1235851957|access-date=March 15, 2024|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=March 15, 2024|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== * {{annotated link|Archival science}} * {{annotated link|Data archaeology}} * {{annotated link|Data preservation}} * {{annotated link|Digital preservation}} * {{annotated link|Digital hoarding}} * List of unpublished books * Lost artworks * Lost literary work * {{annotated link|Lost Media Wiki}} * {{annotated link|Lostwave}} * {{annotated link|Media archaeology}} * Media preservation * {{annotated link|Orphan work}}
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
== Further reading == * {{Cite book|last1=Hansen|first1=Kathleen A.|last2=Paul|first2=Nora|date=2017|title=Future-Proofing the News: Preserving the First Draft of History|location=Lanham, UK|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-6712-1|oclc=961007777}}
{{Lost films}}
Category:Lost works