
Public Domain
When Love Took Wings
1915 · Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle / Keystone Film Company · Dir. Roscoe Arbuckle
Three men in love with the same woman contend with each other and with her father, until one of them takes her on an airplane in an attempt to elope with her.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Under the current U.S. copyright law (the 1976 Act as amended), all works published or registered before January 1, 1928, have entered the public domain. 'When Love Took Wings' is a short silent comedy starring Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle and Al St. John, produced by the Keystone Film Company. It was released on May 13, 1915, and registered for copyright by the Keystone Film Company on May 22, 1915 (LP5340).
Because the film was published and registered well before the 1928 cutoff, its maximum possible copyright term (which was previously 75 or 95 years depending on various acts) has expired. The film became public domain in the United States on January 1, 1991 (75 years after publication, per the rules governing works in their second renewal term at the time). No further extensions apply to works of this vintage.
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 (CCE), Motion Pictures 1912-1939 (1951)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Keystone short films index)
- IMDb - When Love Took Wings (1915)
- U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15A: Duration of Copyright
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.