The Dancing Lesson

The film 'The Dancing Lesson', produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company and released in 1915, is in the public domain in the United States due to its date of publication. The United States copyright law states that all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of their original registration or renewal status. In 1915, copyright protection was governed by the 1909 Copyright Act, which provided for an initial 28-year term and a 28-year renewal term. Even if this film had been properly registered and renewed, the maximum possible protection period of 56 years (later extended by the 1976 Act and the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act) would have expired long ago for any work from this era. Under current US law, the end of the 95-year statutory term for works published in 1915 occurred on December 31, 2010. Therefore, the film is no longer subject to copyright and is free for public use.