Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
There are a good number of PD films available online to watch or download. Click Some of them surprised me. Films like "And Then There were None" for example. I'd have thought they'd keep that in copyright as long as possible but it lapsed somehow. |
Crich70, before the pre Berne(ish) copyright law of 1978 change, a copyright was good for 28 years, which could be extended for another 28 years, if a form was filled out and a modest fee paid to the US Copyright office. It that wasn't done with in a certain window, (I think it was a year, but I could be wrong on that) the work fell into the public domain.
Since motion pictures were created under the "work-for-hire" rules, the corporate ownership was responsible for renewing the copyright. That was not always done. (The company could go bankrupt, and the people buying the assets might not have a complete list of movie assets; or some clerk could just "fall down on the job" and not send in the paperwork. (His Girl Friday, for example.))
Hollywood created over 100,000 film titles before the 1978 copyright act changed the rules, (including things like shorts, newsreels, serials, and other subjects); less than 1% "fell though the cracks". . . .