Public Domain
Don't Change Your Husband
1919 · Artcraft Pictures Corporation · Dir. Cecil B. DeMille
Leila Porter comes to dislike her husband James, a glue king who is always eating onions and looking sloppy. But after she divorces him and marries two-timing playboy Schuyler Van Sutphen the now-reformed James looks pretty good.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under US copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of their original copyright registration or renewal status. Cecil B. DeMille's 'Don't Change Your Husband' was released on January 26, 1919, which places it well within the pre-1928 cutoff.
The film was originally registered for copyright by Artcraft Pictures Corp. on January 15, 1919 (LP13292) and copyright was renewed by Paramount Pictures on August 21, 1946 (R9608). However, according to the Copyright Term Extension Act, these protections expired at the end of their 75-year term (calculated as 1919 + 75 years = 1994). Because the film was published before 1928, its term was not further extended by the 1998 Sonny Bono Act, and it is now definitively in the public domain.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.