A Tale of Two Cities

Under the current copyright laws of the United States, all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain. This film, produced by Vitagraph in three parts and released in February and March of 1911, predates that cutoff by 17 years. The film stars Florence Turner, Maurice Costello, and Norma Talmadge. It was an early prestige adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. Because it was published well before the 1928 threshold, it transitioned into the public domain upon the expiration of its maximum possible copyright term (which, under the 1909 Act, was 56 years from publication, provided it was renewed). Regardless of whether it was renewed in 1939, it is now expired under the current '95 years from publication' rule for pre-1978 works.