Public Domain
Getting Even
1909 · Biograph Company · Dir. D.W. Griffith
All the young men in the mining camp flirt with Lucy. Bud, the youngest of them, doesn't stand a chance. At a dance, Bud dresses as a woman and all the men flirt with him and abandon Lucy. When his disguise is revealed, the other men are too embarrassed to approach Lucy, and Bud dances the rest of the night with her.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Getting Even' was directed by D.W. Griffith and released by the Biograph Company in September 1909. As a US-produced motion picture published before January 1, 1928, its copyright has expired by operation of law.
Under the Copyright Act of 1909 and the subsequent 1976 Act and CTEA extensions, all works first published or registered before 1928 became part of the public domain in the United States. Even if a copyright registration (such as a paper print deposit) was originally filed with the Library of Congress at the time of release, its protection would have lasted for a maximum of 95 years, placing the final expiration no later than the end of 2004.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1894–1912
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (D.W. Griffith Biograph credit list)
- Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.