The Matrimonial Express

The Matrimonial Express was released on September 4, 1913, by the Vitagraph Company of America. Under the current United States copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1929, have entered the public domain regardless of their original registration or renewal status. At the time of its release, the film was governed by the Copyright Act of 1909, which provided a maximum term of 56 years (two 28-year terms) upon registration. Even if the copyright had been properly renewed, it would have expired in 1969. Because it was published well before the 1929 cutoff for current statutory protection, the film is definitively in the public domain in the United States.