Public Domain
Smashing Barriers
1919 · Vitagraph Company of America · Dir. William Duncan
When sawmill owner Helen Cole is kidnapped by bandits, it falls on lumberjack Dan Stevens to rescue her, but "Wirenail" Hedges is not willing to give up without a fight. Originally a fifteen-episode serial, all that is known to survive of "Smashing Barriers" today is this single reel abridgment created for the home movie market in 1932.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under US copyright law, all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of renewal status. 'Smashing Barriers' was a 15-chapter silent action serial directed by William Duncan and released by Vitagraph between September 1919 and January 1920.
The film's copyright was originally registered with the US Copyright Office in 1919 (Registration Number LP14214). However, its expiration is determined by the passage of time; all US films from 1919 saw their maximum 95-year copyright term (under the 1976 Act and the 1998 Term Extension Act) expire by the end of 2014 at the latest. Consequently, the work is now in the public domain globally under the 'Rule of the Shorter Term' and specifically within the United States due to the 1928 cutoff.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- The American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog of Feature Films
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
- IMDb: Smashing Barriers (1919)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.