Public Domain
Scaramouche
1923 · Metro Pictures Corporation · Dir. Rex Ingram
A law student becomes an outlaw French revolutionary when he decides to avenge the unjust killing of his friend. To get close to the aristocrat who has killed his friend, the student adopts the identity of Scaramouche the clown.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Scaramouche', directed by Rex Ingram and starring Ramon Novarro, was released in the United States on September 30, 1923. Under the current United States copyright law (the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998), all works published or registered for copyright before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain.
Since this film was published in 1923, its maximum 95-year term of protection expired on January 1, 1919 (95 years after the year of publication). Consequently, the film is definitively in the public domain in the United States regardless of whether the copyright was originally renewed in its 28th year.
Research into the Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) confirms the original 1923 registration by Metro Pictures, and while a renewal was filed in 1951 (R78631, Loew's Inc.), that renewal served only to extend the copyright until its final expiration at the end of its 95th year in 2018.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- U.S. Copyright Office, Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database
- American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog of Feature Films
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, 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.