Public Domain
The Captive
1915 · Lasky Feature Play Co. · Dir. Cecil B. DeMille
During the Balkan Wars, Sonia is a young woman living in Montenegro and left to care for her younger brother Milos and the family farm while elder brother Marko goes off to battle. Unable to handle the daily tasks following her brother’s tragic death, help comes in the form of Mahmud Hassan, a captured Turk nobleman, now a prisoner of war. Tasked with helping Sonia, their initial frosty relationship soon melts into romance. As the war rages on Sonia, Mahmud and Milos will face near-insurmountable obstacles in their quest for a better life amidst the hell of war.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'The Captive', directed by Cecil DeMille and starring Blanche Sweet, was released in the United States on April 22, 1915. Under the US Copyright Act of 1909 and the subsequent amendments, all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain in the United States due to the expiration of their maximum possible copyright term (95 years).
As a production from 1915, the copyright term expired no later than the end of 1990 (75 years from publication at the time of the 1976 Act, or more simply, under the current 95-year rule for pre-1978 works). Because it precedes the 1928 cutoff for works currently under protection, no search of renewal records is necessary to confirm its status. The work is definitively in the public domain.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Captive (1915)
- Internet Movie Database (IMDb): The Captive (1915)
- Library of Congress: Catalog of Copyright Entries (Motion Pictures 1912-1939)
- U.S. Copyright Office: Circular 15a (Duration of Copyright)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.