Public Domain
Riddle Gawne
1918 · William S. Hart Productions · Dir. Lambert Hillyer
When Gawne finds his brother dying and hears that the killer has run off with his brother's wife, he swears revenge.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under the terms of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the subsequent Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, all works published or registered in the United States before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain.
'Riddle Gawne' was released on August 19, 1918, and was originally registered for copyright by William S. Hart (LP12759). Because it was published more than 95 years ago (specifically, it passed the 95-year threshold on January 1, 2014), it is definitively in the public domain regardless of whether the copyright was originally renewed. There are no provisions under US law to extend the protection of a 1918 work beyond this fixed expiration date.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Silent Era (silentera.com)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.