I used to show Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool in my film classes and the 16mm prints have the song "Merry-Go-Round" by Wild Man Fischer during the roller derby scene. According to IMDB the song was the subject of a lawsuit when the film was released on home video because Paramount only had the rights for theatrical and television showings. I thought the rights issue might be resolved when Criterion released it since they usually try to present the film as originally intended, but the alternate music also was used on that release, and there is not even any mention of the film being modified from its original form. Tonight TCM is showing the film and since it is a television broadcast I thought the initial rights negotiation might apply and they would run the film with the original music, but they also are running it with the alternate music. So apparently the only way to see the film as it was originally released is on a 35mm or 16mm print, or perhaps on an old taped copy of a television showing (I seem to remember the USA network running the film years ago, but not sure what music they used).
There is at least one other way to see the Roller Derby sequence intact. The original Paramount VHS cassette of MEDIUM COOL, released circa 1982 or so, had the sequence with the original music/song. That VHS cassette was, I believe, the reason that Fischer sued.
Fischer was "wild and crazy," but he got it together to sue "The Man" when it came to his song.
Another collectible VHS cassette is THE WEAVERS: WASN'T THAT A TIME, which contains a montage of other artists performing "This Land Is Your Land." That montage is missing from subsequent TV prints, as well as from the briefly-available PBS DVD of the film.
