Public Domain
Child Bride
1938 · Raymond L. Friedgen Productions · Dir. Harry Revier
Jennie is a twelve-year-old girl living with her parents in extremely rural mountain country. Her schoolteacher, Miss Carol, though a mountain girl herself, has gone off to be educated and returned in hopes of stopping the tradition of child marriage which permeates the culture. Jennie's father Ira is a good man who tries to protect Miss Carol from the men who threaten her if she doesn't call off her crusade. One of these men, Jake Bolby, has his eye on little Jennie and plots to make her his bride.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Child Bride' (also known as 'Child Bride of the Ozarks') was originally produced and independently released in late 1938 by Raymond L. Friedgen. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, US works published between 1928 and 1963 required a copyright renewal filing during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. Failure to renew resulted in the work entering the public domain.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal record for this title. Based on the 1938 release, the renewal window would have been in 1965 or 1966; no such filing was made by Friedgen or any successor in interest. Furthermore, the film is widely documented in the 'Film Superlist' as being in the public domain and has been a staple of public domain distributors like Alpha Video and Something Weird Video for decades with no record of litigation or takedowns. Therefore, it has definitively entered the public domain in the United States.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- U Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1931-1940)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.