Public Domain
The Violin Maker of Cremona
1909 · Biograph Company · Dir. D.W. Griffith
A contest is being held in Cremona for the best violin, with Giannina's hand in marriage as the prize. Filippo is secretly in love with her, but is also ashamed of being a cripple, so he switches his superior violin with that of another apprentice, Sandro, whom Giannina loves.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film was directed by D.W. Griffith and released on June 7, 1909, by the Biograph Company. Under US copyright law, all works published before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain regardless of whether they were registered or renewed. This specific film is over 110 years old and has long since cleared its maximum possible copyright term (which was 75 years at the time for works of this era, later extended, but the 1928 cutoff remains the definitive boundary for public domain status). The film is preserved by the Library of Congress and is widely available as a public domain work.
Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- Wikipedia: The Violin Maker of Cremona
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.