Public Domain
Girls Taking Time Checks
1904 · American Mutoscope and Biograph Company · Dir. Billy Bitzer
Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Girls Taking Time Checks is an actuality film directed by G.W. 'Billy' Bitzer and produced by the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in 1904. It captures female factory workers at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, clocking in for their shifts.
As a film published in the United States prior to January 1, 1928, it is definitively in the public domain under current US copyright law. The 95-year term for works published before 1978 has expired for all works released in 1904. Additionally, many Biograph films from this era were originally preserved as paper prints filed with the Library of Congress for copyright purposes, and these materials have long since entered the public domain.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress (Moving Image Catalog)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Short Film Records)
- Hurst, 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)'
- Internet Archive (National Film Preservation Foundation collection)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.