# Movies in the Public Domain **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961 "2005-11-20T18:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/1 "2005-11-20T18:19:19Z")
There are occasions when someone in a film is watching a film on television. We have an occasion to do this in our film. It doesn’t matter what’s on, just that there’s something. I know there are movies out there in the Public Domain, whose copyrights have expired. It would be easier to shoot a scene if we could have one of those playing on the TV and be able to show it instead of setting up the shot so as not to see what’s actually on the screen. Anyone have ideas for such films, whose copyrights have expired? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/2 "2005-11-20T18:21:57Z")
[Archive.org](http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Afeature_films&sort=-%2Fmetadata%2Fpublicdate) has a bunch you can download for free. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/3 "2005-11-20T18:36:37Z")
**[My Man Godfrey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028010/)** is a classic movie in PD. I found it in a dollar store and [Archive.org](http://Archive.org) does have it. Good Luck Jim ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/4 "2005-11-20T19:51:23Z")
Night of the Livinc Dead is public domain (the copyright notice was left off when the title was changed). IMNSB isn’t Reefer Madness (the black & white version) public domain? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/5 "2005-11-20T20:02:17Z")
BTW: Here the link to the download [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=my%20man%20godfrey%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies](http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=my%20man%20godfrey%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies) Jim ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/6 "2005-11-20T22:30:14Z")
Quick look at the [Archive.org](http://Archive.org)… Whoa! _Charade_ (yes the one with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn) is Public domain?!?! Other notables so far: \*The cabinet of Dr Caligary \* (of course) but another surprise is the original \*The man that knew too much \* from Hitchcock. Maybe we should make this a thread on what is the best movie in public domain, any other nominees? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/7 "2005-11-20T22:33:30Z")
Anything before 1923, film or print, is in the public domain. Due to Disney’s litigation, that’s probably about where it’s going to stop for most major works. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/8 "2005-11-20T22:40:44Z")
How is Disney involved? The person most responsible for the exension of copyright to 70 years were Adolph Hitler. Second was probably the George Gershwin estate. Disney doesn’t even have to have copyright extended: any important characters of theirs are trademarked, which lasts indefinitely, ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/9 "2005-11-20T22:46:29Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Whoa! _Charade_ (yes the one with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn) is Public domain?!?! Really? That would explain why Universal gave it away as a bonus on their _The Truth About Charlie_ DVD. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/10 "2005-11-20T23:17:06Z")
More on this [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340227) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/11 "2005-11-21T01:09:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > How is Disney involved? The person most responsible for the exension of copyright to 70 years were Adolph Hitler. Second was probably the George Gershwin estate. I’m familiar with the Gerswhin catalog’s role in copyright extension but not with Hitler. How is he involved? Disney has sponsored much legislation to extend corporate copyrights, so much so that the legislation proposed by Sonny Bono is nicknamed ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/12 "2005-11-21T01:12:51Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > How is Disney involved? The person most responsible for the exension of copyright to 70 years were Adolph Hitler. Second was probably the George Gershwin estate. I’m familiar with the Gerswhin catalog’s role in copyright extension but not with Hitler. How is he involved? Disney has sponsored much legislation to extend corporate copyrights, so much so that the legislation proposed by Sonny Bono is nicknamed [The Mickey Mouse Protection Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono_Copyright_Term_Extension_Act) (wikipedia link, but valid). It extended the copyright not just to 70 years, but 70 years from the death of the author, which for a point of relevance means that the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald are copyrighted for a few more years. At one point legislation attempted to extend it for a full century after the death of the author, which would mean that Mark Twain (who has no living descendants and specifically stated that he had no concern as to what happened to his royalties after the death of his daughters [the last surviving one died in the 1960s]) would have been protected. I think life plus 50 years is more than ample. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-the-public-domain/331961/13 "2005-11-21T01:46:43Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m familiar with the Gerswhin catalog’s role in copyright extension but not with Hitler. How is he involved? IIRC, the copyright to _Mein Kampf_ is owned by the Bavarian government. I believe they wanted the copyright law extended so that Hitler’s manifesto would not be free for the taking by possible future Nazis.