Assembling a Generator

Assembling a Generator (1904), directed/photographed by G.W. 'Billy' Bitzer for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, is in the public domain in the United States due to its publication year. Under U.S. copyright law, all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of renewal status. This specific film is well-documented in the Library of Congress (LoC) Paper Print Collection. It was originally registered for copyright as a series of still photographs (a common practice for early motion pictures) in 1904. Because the maximum possible copyright term for works of this era was 75 years (subsequently extended to 95 years by the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act), the copyright expired at the latest in 1999 (1904 + 95). Since it predates the current 1928 cutoff for works entering the public domain by age, its status is definitive.