Public Domain
Pollyanna
1920 · Mary Pickford Company / United Artists · Dir. Paul Powell
When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Pollyanna', starring Mary Pickford and directed by Paul Powell, was released in the United States on January 18, 1920 (which falls within the ±2 year window of the user's 1919 hint). According to US copyright law, all works published or registered in the United States before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of whether their copyrights were renewed.
Because the film was released in 1920, its maximum term of protection (under the Copyright Act of 1909 as amended by the 1976 and 1998 acts) would have been 95 years, meaning it would have expired no later than the end of 2015. However, since it predates the current 1928 cutoff for the 'rolling' public domain, it is definitively public domain in the United States. No renewal search or notice analysis is required for a work of this vintage.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (The First 100 Years 1893-1993)
- IMDb: Pollyanna (1920)
- 17 U.S.C. § 304 (Duration of Copyright)
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1894-1959 (Hurst/Baer)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.