Name: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Director: Fred Niblo
Released: 1925

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925 · Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) · Dir. Fred Niblo

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

Confidence

100

Why this status applies

The 1925 silent epic 'Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ' was originally registered for copyright by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. on July 19, 1926 (registration number LP22934). Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works from this era required a renewal in their 28th year to maintain protection. According to the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), the copyright was successfully renewed on March 22, 1954 (renewal number R127457) by Loew's Inc. as the successor in interest. Because the copyright was properly maintained through the 1976 and 1998 extension acts, it is granted a total term of 95 years from publication. This film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2021. However, while the 1925 film's visual elements are public domain, the 'status' for a 1925 film is definitively public domain as of current US law.

Why this status applies

Supporting facts