Public Domain
Billy the Bear Tamer
1915 · Selig Polyscope Company · Dir. Lee Beggs
A young man's girlfriend is forbidden by her father to see him again. When the father takes his family on a hunting trip to the woods, the girl and her suitor hatch a plan where he dresses up in a bear suit to "menace" the family, then leaves and reappears as himself to "save" them. However, things don't go quite to plan.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Billy the Bear Tamer' was released in the United States on June 5, 1915. It is a one-reel comedy produced by William Selig's Selig Polyscope Company and directed by Lee Moran. This identification matches the user's approximate year and title exactly.
According to U.S. copyright law, all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of whether they were renewed or if notice was provided. This is a bright-line expiration of copyright terms for older works. Because this film was released in 1915, its statutory copyright term has long since expired, falling into the public domain at the latest by the end of 1990 (75 years after publication under the transition rules of the 1976 Act).
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- The Moving Picture World, Vol 24 (1915)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (database index)
- IMDb
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.