Public Domain
The Sawmill
1922 · Vitagraph Company of America · Dir. Norman Taurog
A bumbling sawmill employee tries to win the hand of the owner's daughter while staying out of the clutches of the mill's bullying foreman.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'The Sawmill', starring Larry Semon and Oliver Hardy, was released on February 26, 1922, by the Vitagraph Company of America. Because it was published before January 1, 1928, it falls under the categorical expiration of copyright terms in the United States.
Under current US copyright law, specifically the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, all works published before 1928 have entered the public domain. This film reached the end of its maximum 95-year protection period (under the 1909 and 1976 Acts as amended) no later than January 1, 2018. It is currently available on various public domain archives, including the Internet Archive and via multiple PD-specialist home video distributors.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf
- https://archive.org/details/TheSawmill1922
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Sawmill (1922)
- Hurst, Richard Maurice. Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939).
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.