So THAT’s Why TV And Movie Credits Use Roman Numerals

We’ve recently shared at HuffPost UK what the stars surrounding the mountain in the Paramount logo may actually mean, as well as why TV shows and movies so rarely show known brand names.

But there’s another movie mystery at the other end of your favourite films, too.

If you look closely after the credits have rolled, you’ll see that the copyright credit is often written in Roman numerals, rather than the regular Arabic numerals we’re all used to.

That’s not a copyright thing ― books, for instance, usually use regular numbers.

So, why does that change once a story gets on screen?

Amy Glover/ Asako Yuzuki / 4th Estate / 20th Century Fox

Well, part of it has to do with mystery

The “deception theory” of Roman numeral credits suggests that TV and movie studios simply don’t want you to know when their piece of media was first released.

The BBC, for instance, uses the technique. “The convention is not to spell out what year something was made,” the broadcaster wrote on their online news site.

Using Roman numerals means you have to spend a lot of time working out what the date is (or, in the adorable case of this grandmother, Google searching the letters as politely as possible).

That way, you couldn’t tell the age of repeats or older content.

ABC’s 33 WYTV says there’s also the “why change?” theory ― in other words, TV shows and movies have used Roman numerals for their copyright credits for so long that it just feels pointless to change it.

They also suggest that it could have something to do with physical film ― back in the day, numbers could fade into unreadable forms on physical tape, but Roman numerals held their shape better over time.

Either way, people don’t love it

Researching the reason for the numerals resulted in my seeing many, many disgruntled forum users who hate the quirk.

One Mumsnet member wrote, “it can be frustrating to wait for the credits to roll, only to find that the date appears as a row of Roman numerals which often flash by too quickly to convert them into Arabic (‘ordinary’) numerals.”

A Guardian reader reckoned the technique is used because “most of the audience (unlike Guardian readers of course) will be unable to read them and so will not realise that the film is so old”.

“I’d bet my non-existent house that most people in the UK can definitely NOT read Roman numerals,” a Digital Spy forum member opined.

Whatever the reason, though, I sort of agree with another Digital Spy forum user ― “it looks cool,” they commented.

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Sabrina Carpenter Appears To Be Teasing A Mysterious Collab – And Fans Have A Lot Of Thoughts

Sabrina Carpenter fans’ imaginations are running wild after the Espresso singer appeared to tease a mysterious new collaboration.

The chart-topping star – who is currently gearing up for the release of her new album Short N’ Sweet on Friday – shared a series of pictures on Instagram on Wednesday morning, alongside the caption: “Taste me!”

One snap in particular has really captured fans’ attention, showing the singer from behind, standing next to a dark-haired female figure.

It didn’t take long for fans to put two and two together and reach the conclusion that Sabrina will be teasing a new collaboration, or at least an interesting co-star in her next music video.

And speculation is already rife about who it could be.

Other names in the frame include Grammy nominee Lana Del Rey, Water singer Tyla or woman of the moment Chappell Roan, whose hit Good Luck, Babe! Sabrina previously covered in Radio 1’s Live Lounge…

Meanwhile, another popular theory has suggested that Sabrina might have recruited Jenna Ortega to appear in her next video, based on a few clues…

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I’m ready to clown because this really looks like Jenna 👀 The hair, the way she crosses her arms, her height, her waist, and most importantly the nails. Would be super random if it is her but it’s look too much like Jenna to not be Jenna tbh pic.twitter.com/pcsJ5YwtRp

— Eloise 🕷️ (@cairoswife) August 21, 2024

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Would be super random if it is her but it’s look too much like Jenna to not be Jenna tbh pic.twitter.com/pcsJ5YwtRp— Eloise 🕷️ (@cairoswife) August 21, 2024\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Eloise 🕷️ on Twitter / 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I’m ready to clown because this really looks like Jenna 👀 The hair, the way she crosses her arms, her height, her waist, and most importantly the nails. Would be super random if it is her but it’s look too much like Jenna to not be Jenna tbh pic.twitter.com/pcsJ5YwtRp

— Eloise 🕷️ (@cairoswife) August 21, 2024

And there are also some who reckon Sabrina’s next video will see her simply starring alongside a dark-haired version of herself…

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everyone saying that might be olivia when it’s both sabrina with blonde and black hair. she literally debuted a black hairstyle the other day 😭

— steven ☀️ (@arianaunext) August 21, 2024

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everyone saying that might be olivia when it’s both sabrina with blonde and black hair. she literally debuted a black hairstyle the other day 😭

— steven ☀️ (@arianaunext) August 21, 2024