Public Domain
The Sheik
1921 · Famous Players-Lasky / Paramount Pictures · Dir. George Melford
Sheik Ahmed desperately desires feisty British socialite Diana, so he abducts her and carries her off to his luxurious tent-palace in the desert. The free-spirited Diana recoils from his passionate embraces and yearns to be released. Later, allowed to go into the desert, she escapes and makes her way across the sands...
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino and Agnes Ayres, was released in the United States on November 20, 1921. Under the terms of the Copyright Acts of 1909 and 1976, as amended by the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain in the United States.
The film's original copyright was registered by Famous Players-Lasky Corp. (LP17199) and was subsequently renewed in 1949 (R48432) by Paramount Pictures Inc. However, because it was published prior to the 1928 cutoff, its statutory 95-year term has expired regardless of those renewals. As of January 1, 2017, the film is free of copyright restrictions in the U.S.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ15a.pdf
- https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=89708269&searchType=1&limitTo=none&fromYear=&toYear=&limitTo=LOCA%3Dall&limitTo=PLAC%3Dall&limitTo=TYPE%3Dall&setupRetry=1
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (Film Superlist: 1894-1939)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.