A Colorful Sermon

A Colorful Sermon is a 1928 American short film (alternatively titled 'The Sermon') produced by Tiffany-Stahl Productions as part of their early sound or 'Tiffany Color Classics' series. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published in the United States between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing in their 28th year to maintain copyright protection beyond the initial term. A thorough search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title or for Tiffany-Stahl's 1928 shorts. Because the original copyright was not renewed in 1955 or 1956, the work automatically entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term. Furthermore, many Tiffany-Stahl titles are documented in 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1894-1939' (Hurst) as having failed to renew. Given its 1928 release and the absence of a renewal record, the film's public domain status is well-established.