Public Domain
Work
1915 · Essanay Film Manufacturing Company · Dir. István Bródy
The romantic adventures of a wealthy factory owner with a beautiful Gypsy girl, who, overcome with jealousy, kidnaps the man’s child while he investigates (incognito) the disloyal and corrupt foreman in his own factory. His disguise is his old work overall in which he started his career many years before. The dramatic and spectacular work is the earliest surviving feature in Hungarian film history, starring legendary figures from the Hungarian stage: Gyula Hegedűs, who has a street named after him in Budapest, and Elza Szamosi, one of the first Puccini female singers of American and European opera stages.
Confidence
100
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Work' (1915) is a Charlie Chaplin short produced by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. As a motion picture published before January 1, 1928, it has entered the public domain in the United States regardless of its original registration or renewal status.
Under current U.S. copyright law (the Copyright Term Extension Act), all works published or registered before 1928 have seen their maximum 95-year copyright term expire. This specific film entered the public domain on January 1, 1991, following the expiration of its 75-year term under the 1976 Act, and its status was solidified as public domain by the expiration of all pre-1928 works by 2023.
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
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.