Public Domain

Boys Will Be Joys

Name: Boys Will Be Joys
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Released: 1925

1925 · Hal Roach Studios / Pathé Exchange · Dir. Robert F. McGowan

Adults have the Pike and Coney Island amusement parks, so the rascals put up their own rides in a large vacant lot. Mickey's got big plans for expansion when surveyors show up to begin work on a factory. The gang travels by donkey cart to the office of Henry Mills, President of Pan American Export Company, to protest. Henry, in his 60s, is still a boy at heart: he has his chauffeur stop the car so he can join a sandlot game. He bails on a meeting with his board of directors, going with the kids to the factory site where he stops the workers and helps our gang add more rides. The directors follow him, and they get put to work. Will they ever have their meeting?

Confidence

100

— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The film 'Boys Will Be Joys' is a short subject in the 'Our Gang' (Little Rascals) silent film series, produced by Hal Roach and released by Pathé Exchange in 1925. Under currrent US copyright law, all works published in the United States prior to January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain due to the expiration of their statutory copyright term. Even if the film had been renewed (the original term was 28 years with a possible 28-year extension under the 1909 Act), the maximum possible protection for works from 1925 ended 95 years after publication (December 31, 2020). Consequently, the film is now in the public domain regardless of its renewal status. It is widely available in public domain collections and through various historical film archives without restriction.

— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15a: Duration of Copyright
AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Our Gang short subjects 1922-1927)
Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
The Lucky Corner: Our Gang Filmography (Boys Will Be Joys, 1925)

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.