Public Domain
A Happy Family
1935 · Columbia Pictures / Charles Mintz Productions · Dir. Manny Gould
Krazy has the entire family come to visit: dozens and dozens of cats who behave like the dwarfs who visit Bilbo's house, eating all the food, destroying the dishes and setting fire to the establishment in this good Krazy Kat cartoon.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
This work is a theatrical short film part of the 'Krazy Kat' cartoon series produced by Charles Mintz for Columbia Pictures. It was originally registered for copyright on September 24, 1935, under registration number MP5831. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works from this era required a renewal filing between the 27th and 28th year of their initial term to remain protected.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no record of a renewal filing for this specific title. While many Columbia/Mintz cartoons were renewed (often by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. in the early 1960s), several individual entries in the Krazy Kat series were missed or allowed to expire. The absence of a renewal record in the 1962-1963 window (28 years after 1935) indicates that the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- David Pierce, Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals, 1950–1959
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Short Film Records)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.