Determining copyright registration

Motion picture copyright registrations prior to 1978 were published in semi-annual Copyright Catalogs. The Library of Congress also published cumulative Copyright Catalogs of motion picture registrations for the periods, which all are out of print.

However, the Film Superlist series is a complete reprint of all registrations in the Copyright Catalogs for 1894 through 1959. There is no cumulative Copyright Catalog for 1970–1977; the Copyright Office published 16 semi-annual Copyright Catalog booklets covering that eight-year period, but all are out of print and extremely rare. All copyright registrations from 1978 onward are online at the Library of Congress website.

Some decades of The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures include copyright registration information for feature films (not shorts) of United States origin. This can include a statement that research failed to disclose copyright registration for a particular film. Copyright registration information is given in the following:

• The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, 1931–1940; ISBN 0-913616-00-1
• The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, 1941–1950; ISBN 0-913616-39-7

The United States copyright website catalogs all the pre-1978 works that have been renewed in 1978 or later.^[9] Several pieces of work have been renewed in the form of collections, thus giving the collection as a whole copyright protection.

Missing or flawed copyright notice

Films published before March 1, 1989, had to contain a valid copyright notice in order to claim copyright. At the bare minimum, the copyright notice had to include the word "copyright" or an acceptable abbreviation (like a circled C), the year of publication (which could not be more than one year ahead of the actual publication), and the name of any entity claiming the copyright.

For example, episodes of the animated TV series The New 3 Stooges were published with an incomplete copyright notice with a year and copyright symbol but no claimant. The series was published prior to 1989, and the lack of an explicit claimant ensured that the series immediately lapsed into the public domain. If the series had been published after this date, the owner of any copyright would have been unclear due to uncertainty over ownership of the series.

As a result of the passage of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, a copyright notice is not required for films published on March 1, 1989, or later. An invalid notice or a lack of one would not invalidate the copyright to works published between 1978 and March 1, 1989, as long as a proper notice was added to subsequent copies.^[11]

Date of publication and renewal status

All motion pictures made and exhibited before 1929 are indisputably in the public domain in the United States. This date will move forward one year, every year, meaning that films released in 1929 will enter the public domain in 2025, films from 1930 in 2026, and so on, concluding with films from 1977 entering the public domain in 2073.

Films registered between 1929 and 1963 had to have their copyrights renewed in order for them not to enter the public domain. The semi-annual Copyright Catalog booklets have virtually complete lists of renewals for the films registered 28 years earlier. Those semi-annual booklets all are out of print. However, for 1929 through 1959, the Film Superlist books match copyright renewals with earlier registrations. Copyright registrations and renewals can be found in:

• Volume 1: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1894–1939
• Volume 2: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1940–1949
• Volume 3: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1950–1959

As a result of the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992, copyrights registered between 1964 and later were automatically renewed.

Before the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) in 1998, the term of copyright in the U.S. was a maximum of 75 years, with the work entering the public domain on January 1 of the 76th year from creation (so, for example, a film made in 1930 whose copyright was properly registered and renewed would enter the public domain on January 1, 2006). As such, all films released before 1923 would have entered the public domain by January 1, 1998. Although the CTEA added 20 years to the terms of all existing copyrights until 2019, it explicitly refused to revive any copyrights that had expired prior to its passage. On January 1, 2019, the 20-year extension expired and new works began entering the public domain each year thereafter.

Underlying rights

Many of the films listed below are based on novels, plays, magazine stories or a combination of these sources. In some cases, a film's copyright has lapsed because of non-renewal while the underlying literary or dramatic source is still protected by copyright; for example, the film His Girl Friday (1940) became a public domain film in 1969 because it was not renewed, but it is based on the 1928 play The Front Page; as a practical matter, the film could not be used without permission until copyright on the play expired in 2024.^[4]

Work of the United States government

All works made by United States government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain from their creation. The status of works made by contractors is dependent on the terms of their contract. Note that this applies only to the federal government, and not to state or local governments, which may or may not claim copyright depending on state laws.^[12]