Public Domain
Pippa Passes
1909 · Biograph Company · Dir. D.W. Griffith
Pippa awakes and faces the world outside with a song. Unbeknown to her, the music has a healing effect on all who hear her as she passes by.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Pippa Passes' was directed by D. W. Griffith and released by the Biograph Company (American Mutoscope and Biograph Co.) in October 1909. Under U.S. copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of whether their copyright was ever renewed.
As a 1909 production, its maximum possible copyright term (even if renewed in its 28th year) has long since expired. The film is famously noted in film history as the first movie to be reviewed by the New York Times and is widely available through public domain archives and distributors like Kino Lorber and the Library of Congress.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- https://www.loc.gov/item/00694301/
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Though 1909 is generally short-film era, it is documented in studio archives)
- Hurst, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1894-1939
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.