Public Domain
Egyptian Fakir with Dancing Monkey
1903 · American Mutoscope and Biograph Company · Dir. A.C. Abadie
The fakir with his trick monkey is seated on the pavement in a street in Cairo. He plays a tom-tom, while the monkey dances the couchee-couchee. The movements of the monkey are very comical. (Taken on the winter cruise of the S. S. "Auguste Victoria" of the Hamburg-American Line, leaving New York on 03 Feb 1903.)
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
This short film, produced by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was registered for copyright in 1903 (Registration no. H36127). The production date and US copyright law dictate that all works published or registered in the United States prior to January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain due to the expiration of the statutory copyright term.
Under the 1909 and 1976 Copyright Acts, the maximum possible term for works of this era was 75 years (later extended to 95 years by the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act for works still under protection at that time). Since this work was published in 1903, even the maximum 95-year term would have expired at the end of 1998. Therefore, the film is definitively in the public domain in the United States.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress, Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1894-1912
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Kemp R. Niver, Early Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress (1985)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.