Moira,
Early films will be public domain (to 1923) and some may be public
domain through 1949, if their copyright was not renewed.
The copyright period used to be 28 years, and require renewal, but
the 1976 copyright act extended all copyrights that were in effect
1/1/78 to 47 years. A law passed 10/27/98 extended all copyrights
still in effect then (registered, or published, or renewed after
10/27/51) for 20 more years. A law enacted in 1992 made renewal
automatic for works created after 1/1/1964, and renewal optional. So
a work copyrighted October 27, 1951 is protected until 2046.
Works copyrighted 12/31/1921 are in the public domain, because they
world have expired before 1/1/78 even if renewed for 28 years.
Between 1/1/22 and 10/26/23 the copyright will have expired even if
renewed. From 10/27/23 to 12/21/49 a work may or may not be under
copyright, depending on whether it was renewed.
Richard
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