The Play House

The Play House, a two-reel silent comedy starring Buster Keaton, was released in the United States on October 6, 1921. Under the current US copyright statutes, specifically the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, all works published or registered before January 1, 1929, have entered the public domain. Since this film was published in 1921, its original 28-year term and subsequent 67-year renewal term (totaling 95 years of protection) have fully expired. The film entered the public domain on January 1, 1997. As a result, no further renewal search or analysis of copyright notice is required, as the chronological threshold for public domain status has been surpassed.