Why are Roman numerals used in the credits of movies to show the production year?

Question

Why do they use Roman numerals for the production year in motion pictures? Is there some form of history behind it?

Answer 1

So they can distribute old films without people realising it is an old film.

The film industry has used them perhaps since its inception to denote the year a film was made, so that it could be redistributed later, either locally or to a foreign country, without making it immediately clear to viewers what the actual date was. This became more useful when films were broadcast on television to partially conceal the age of films. From this came the policy of the broadcasting industry, including the BBC, to use them to denote the year in which a television program was made. (The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has largely stopped this practice, but still occasionally lapses.)

Answer 2

Just tradition. Makes it look classy. Like on old buildings.