Public Domain
A Wringing Good Joke
1899 · Edison Manufacturing Co. · Dir. James H. White
"Grandpa sits nodding in his armchair in the kitchen, where a sout, jolly washerwoman is washing clothes. While the woman leaves the tub to talk to a book agent, a small boy enters, and ties grandpa's chair to a towel which is hanging over the tub. The washerwoman begins vigorously wringing the clothes. The towel is drawn into the wringer, and as grandpa is sitting with his feet on the stove and the chair tilted back, a collision is brought about by the towel pulling grandpa and the tub together. This is a crowning success as a comic picture."—Edison Catalog
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'A Wringing Good Joke' was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and released in 1899 (copyrighted under registration number 27073 on April 17, 1899). Under US copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of their original registration status or renewals. This film falls well before that cutoff.
The film is a short comedy (a 'gag' film) depicting a boy playing a prank on a woman by tying a line to a wringer. It is currently preserved by the Library of Congress and other archives as a public domain work. Because it is pre-1928, it has legally expired and is free for use in the United States.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress (Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1894-1912)
- The AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Early Cinema Reference)
- Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- 17 U.S.C. § 304 (Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent extensions)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.