Many
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s have been released to the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
intentionally by the film's author, or because the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
has expired.
Public domain film by country
Japan
Many pre-1954 Japanese films have passed into public domain in Japan. See
Japanese Films copyright timeline.
United States
In the United States, motion pictures are copyrighted for 95 years. All motion pictures made and exhibited before are indisputably in the
public domain in the United States
Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights (such as copyright) at all, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired.
All works first published or released in the United States b ...
. This date will move forward one year, every year, meaning that films released in will enter the public domain on New Year's Day , films from on New Year's Day , and so on.
All copyrightable works made by United States government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain from their creation. The status of works made by contractors is dependent on the terms of their contract. Note that this applies only to the federal government, and not to state or local governments, which
may or may not claim copyright depending on state laws
Re-imposing copyright following Uruguay Round
Another issue specifically affects copyright of foreign works in the United States. The
Uruguay Round
The Uruguay Round was the 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) conducted within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), spanning from 1986 to 1993 and embracing 123 countries as "contracting parties". The R ...
agreements on copyright led to the U.S. Congress re-imposing copyright on some items which had fallen into the public domain (in section 514 of the URAA Act), as of 1996.
In the course of changes made to both U.S. domestic law and international copyright agreements in the last two decades, some works which had fallen in the public domain had copyright restored in the U.S. This was challenged on the grounds that works once in the public domain could not revert to copyright protection - a constitutional question. The see-saw course of court decisions on the matter have caused confusion, with many significant works (such as ''
The Third Man
''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), ...
'') changing status several times in a short period.
Specifically, from a holding published on 3 April 2009 to a reversal on 21 June 2010, re-imposition of copyright was not permitted. That brief period came after the 2001 American case ''
Golan v. Gonzales'' was reconsidered in ''
Golan v. Holder'', which held that the "limited time" language of the United States Constitution's Copyright Clause does not preclude the extension of copyright protections to works previously in the public domain.
['' Golan v. Holder'', 565 U.S. 302 (2012).]
Initially, Judge Babcock held that the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
was not applicable to resurrecting foreign copyright claims. This holding followed tradition in that the First Amendment (which protects against suppression of free speech by government) has always been held not to prevail against the earlier copyright clause (copyrights are generally held by persons, not the U.S. government).
Subsequently, Babcock reversed himself on advice by a higher court that such an act by an arm of government (Congress) changed the traditional interpretation of copyright and should be subject to First Amendment scrutiny. That reversal was itself reversed on appeal and summary judgement granted for the government.
Babcock's holding - that "In the United States, that body of law includes the bedrock principle that works in the public domain remain in the public domain. Removing works from the public domain violated Plaintiffs’ vested First Amendment interests" - therefore no longer applies. Unless and until review is complete by SCOTUS, public domain works can have copyright re-imposed by international treaty and the First Amendment will not prevent it.
Note that
restored
''Restored'' is the fourth
studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings.
Track listing
Standard release
Enhanced edition
Deluxe gold edition
Standard ...
,
subtitled, and
dubbed versions of films can themselves be subject to
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
, even if other elements of the film are in the public domain. Thus even if a film dates from 1915 and as such is ineligible for copyright in the United States of America, a 2004 version with new visual or audio elements (including the addition of a new recording of the score of a silent film) may be itself eligible for a 2004 copyright to those new elements. Special features and packaging are themselves subject to copyright protection.
The question of whether restored films like the most recent version of ''
Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
'' can be copyrighted will not be clear until after the SCOTUS review is complete. That is because the SCOTUS review examines both the First Amendment issue, affecting a version which existed in 1996, and also the much more fundamental question whether Congress has the right to remove works from the public domain at all. There is also a legal question in the U.S. whether a restored print, as a copy of a public domain work, is not original - so does not qualify for copyright protection.
See also
*
List of films in the public domain in the United States
Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common property ...
*
List of countries' copyright length
Copyright is the right to copy and publish a particular work. The terms "copy" and "publish" are quite broad. They include copying in electronic form, the making of translated versions, the creation of a television program based on the work, and ...
*
Public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
*
Public domain music
Public domain music is music to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply.
Background
The length of copyright protection varies from country to country, but music, along with most other creative works, generally enters the public do ...
*
Public Domain Day
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Domain Film
Articles containing video clips
Film
Public domain