Public Domain
Dead Men Tell No Tales
1920 · Vitagraph Company of America · Dir. Tom Terriss
Notorious pirate Joaquin Santos lives by the saying, "Dead Men Tell No Tales". He conspires with the prominent Squire Rattray to take over and plunder the Lady Jermyn, a ship carrying a considerable amount of gold, and then destroy the ship and kill its crew. Rattray, who is in love with Santos' daughter Eve, agrees to pick up the pirate, his crew and their loot on his private yacht after the deed is done. However, young George Cole, a passenger on the Lady Jermyn who is also in love with Eve, survives the attack and sets out to find her.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The most prominent film with this title is the 1920 silent feature directed by Tom Terriss and produced by Vitagraph. As a work published before January 1, 1928, it has entered the public domain in the United States due to the expiration of the maximum 95-year copyright term. While there is a 1938 British film of the same name, the 1920 US production is the primary historical match for this title in a US context. Under the current US copyright law (the 1998 CTEA), all works published before 1928 are definitively in the public domain regardless of renewal status or original copyright notice.
Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Dead Men Tell No Tales, 1920)
- IMDb (Dead Men Tell No Tales, 1920)
- Library of Congress (Public Domain year-by-year schedule)
- U.S. Copyright Office Circular 15a: Duration of Copyright
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.