Each year some of Hollywood’s most influential producers, agents, managers, and development executives judge the contest and read our winning scripts, and as a result, dozens of our past winners have secured representation, landed script assignments, signed option agreements on their work, and many now have movies and television shows in. Steps for Create Database Mysql. Create Database in two ways. 1) By executing a simple SQL query. CREATE DATABASE movies; Note: you can also use the command CREATE SCHEMA instead of CREATE DATABASE. This window allows you to preview the SQL script to create our database. We can save the scripts to a *.sql' file or copy the scripts to the.
This is a non-definitive list of films in the public domain in the United States. A number of films exist that certain cited sources believe are in the public domain in the United States. Being in the public domain refers to cinematic, dramatic, literary, musical, and artistic works that no government, organization, or individual owns, and as such is common property.[1] This list is not comprehensive; the vast majority of public domain films are not included here for various reasons.
Note: Films in this list may incorporate elements from other works that are still under copyright, even though the film itself is out of copyright.
There is no official list of films (or other works) in the public domain. It is difficult to determine the public domain status of a film because it can incorporate any or all of the following copyrightable elements:
Film copyright involves the copyright status of multiple elements that make up the film.[4] A film can lose its copyright in some of those elements while retaining copyright in other elements.[4] Experts in the field of public domain sometimes differ in their opinions as to whether a particular film is in the public domain.
The use of music in a film can cause uncertainty with regard to copyright. As of 2010, it is not known whether the use of music in a film constitutes publication of the music for the purpose of copyright.[5] Unpublished works are treated differently from published works under US copyright law.[6]
Judges, too, differ in their interpretation of the laws governing copyright protection. The United States is a 'patchwork quilt' of inconsistent copyright rules in different federal judicial districts. The courts of one jurisdiction are not obliged to follow the decisions of another.[7] The Supreme Court of the United States (which could resolve those inconsistencies) very seldom decides copyright cases, and then only when an important principle is involved.[citation needed]
If a film appears on the list below, there is a high probability it has lost some or all of its United States copyright protection or in the case of U.S. government films, was never protected by copyright.
There is no single method for determining if a film, or parts of it, is in the public domain. There are several methods that can be used to document a film's public domain status. These include the following:
Prior to 1988, all motion picture films published after 1909 with a copyright notice where the 28th year of copyright would occur before 1988, had to be registered and before the 28th year, the registration had to be renewed, or the copyright for the film would expire and it would enter the public domain. This would apply to all films registered for copyright prior to 1960. Copyright renewals became optional in 1988.
Prior to 1978, films had to contain a valid copyright notice in order to claim copyright; at the bare minimum, the copyright notice had to list the word 'copyright' (or, as an acceptable abbreviation, a circled C), the year of publication (which could not be more than one year ahead of the actual publication), and the name of the entity claiming the copyright. From 1978 to 1988, if a work was published without a notice, the creator had five years to claim a copyright by registering it with the U.S. Copyright Board.[8]
For an example, note the case of the television series The New 3 Stooges, pictured. Episodes of the series were published with an incomplete copyright notice with a year and copyright symbol but no claimant. Had the series been published under the terms of the post-1988 Berne Convention, and automatic copyright granted, it would be an orphan work, since it would be unclear which of the three companies involved in its production; Cambria Studios, C3 Entertainment and Normandy Productions; could claim to own the series. Because it was published before the U.S. joined the Berne Convention, its laws requiring the claimant to be explicitly stated ensured the series immediately lapsed into the public domain.
All motion pictures made and exhibited before 1924 are indisputably in the public domain in the United States. This date will move forward one year, every year, meaning that films released in 1924 will enter the public domain in 2020, films from 1925 in 2021, and so on.
Before the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) in 1998, the term of copyright in the U.S. was a maximum of 75 years, with the work entering the public domain on January 1 of the 76th year from creation (so, for example, a film made in 1930 whose copyright was properly registered and renewed would enter the public domain on January 1, 2006). As such, all films released before 1923 would have entered the public domain by January 1, 1998. Although the CTEA added 20 years to the terms of all existing copyrights, until 2019, it explicitly refused to revive any copyrights that had expired prior to its passage. On January 1, 2019, the 20 year extension expired and new works began entering the public domain each year thereafter.
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.[citation needed]
Motion picture copyright registrations prior to 1978 were published in semi-annual Copyright Catalogs. The Library of Congress also published cumulative Copyright Catalogs of motion picture registrations for the periods
All are out of print. However, the Film Superlist series is a complete reprint of all registrations in the Copyright Catalogs for 1894 through 1959. There is no cumulative Copyright Catalog for 1970–1977; the Copyright Office published 16 semi-annual Copyright Catalog booklets covering that eight-year period, but all are out of print and extremely rare. All copyright registrations from 1978 onward are online at the Library of Congress website.
Some decades of The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures include copyright registration information for feature films (not shorts) of United States origin. This can include a statement that research failed to disclose copyright registration for a particular film. Copyright registration information is given in the following:
The United States copyright website catalogs all the works prior to 1978 that have been renewed.[10]Several pieces of work have been renewed in the form of collections, thus giving the collection as a whole copyright protection.
For films registered in 1923–1963 inclusive, it is essential to know the renewal status. The semi-annual Copyright Catalog booklets have virtually complete (at least 99.99%) lists of renewals for the films registered 28 years earlier. Those semi-annual booklets all are out of print. However, for 1923 through 1959, the Film Superlist books match copyright renewals with earlier registrations. Copyright registrations and renewals can be found in
In 1992, Congress changed the copyright law to make renewal automatic for copyrights registered in 1964 and later.
Many of the movies listed below are based on plays, novels, magazine stories or a combination of those sources. In some cases, a film's copyright has lapsed because of non-renewal while the underlying literary or dramatic source is still protected by copyright. For example, the movie His Girl Friday (1940) became a public domain film in 1969 because it was not renewed, but it is based on the 1928 play The Front Page, which is still under copyright until 2024 and thus as a practical matter the film cannot be used without permission.[4]
All films that were released before 1924, or are the work of the United States Government, are now in the public domain in the United States. They are not listed here in order to keep this list to a manageable size. See Category:Films by year for pre-1924 films.
Note: This list is not comprehensive; the vast majority of public domain films are not listed here. This list includes a selection of notable films where a reliable secondary source is available that discusses public domain status. |
Film title | Release year | Director | Studio / Distributor | Entered PD in (year) | Reason for entering PD | Note(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Abraham Lincoln | 1930 | D. W. Griffith | United Artists | 1958[11] | Copyright not renewed.[11] | |
Africa Screams | 1949 | Charles Barton | United Artists | 1977 | Copyright not renewed.[12][13] | |
Algiers | 1938 | John Cromwell | United Artists | 1966 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
The Amazing Mr. X | 1948 | Bernard Vorhaus | Eagle-Lion Films | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][15] | Also known as The Spiritualist. |
Angel and the Badman | 1947 | James Edward Grant | Republic Pictures | 1975 | Copyright not renewed.[16] | |
The Animal Kingdom | 1932 | Edward H. Griffith | RKO Radio Pictures | 1960 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
At War with the Army | 1950 | Hal Walker | Paramount Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][17] | |
Attack of the Giant Leeches | 1959 | Bernard L. Kowalski | American International Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][18] | |
The Bat | 1959 | Crane Wilbur | Allied Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][19] | |
Beat the Devil | 1953 | John Huston | United Artists | 1980 | Copyright not renewed.[20] | The 2016 restoration is not public domain. |
Beau Brummel | 1924 | Harry Beaumont | Warner Bros. | 1952 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Beau Ideal | 1931 (copyright notice: 1930) | Herbert Brenon | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Becky Sharp | 1935 | Rouben Mamoulian | RKO Radio Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][22] | |
Behind Office Doors | 1931 | Melville W. Brown | RKO Radio Pictures | 1959 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Bird of Paradise | 1932 | King Vidor | RKO Radio Pictures | 1960 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
Blood on the Sun | 1945 | Frank Lloyd | United Artists | 1973 | Copyright not renewed.[16] | |
Blue Steel | 1934 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
Bowery at Midnight | 1942 | Wallace Fox | Monogram Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][24] | |
The Brain That Wouldn't Die | 1962 (completed: 1959) | Joseph Green | American International Pictures | 1962 | Missing copyright notice[25] | Originally completed in 1959 under the title The Black Door or The Head that Wouldn't Die, it was not released until May 3, 1962 where failure to add the copyright notice resulted in the film entering the public domain.[25] |
Brideless Groom | 1947 | Edward Bernds | Columbia Pictures | 1960s[26] | Copyright not renewed.[26] | |
A Bucket of Blood | 1959 | Roger Corman | American International Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][27] | |
Captain Kidd | 1945 | Rowland V. Lee | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][28] | |
Carnival of Souls | 1962 | Herk Harvey | Herts-Lion International Corp. | 1962 | Missing copyright notice[29] | |
Charade | 1963 | Stanley Donen | Universal Pictures | 1963 | Defective copyright notice.[30] | Original music still in copyright.[31] Original story by Peter Stone still in copyright.[30][32] |
Check and Double Check | 1930 | Melville W. Brown | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[33] | |
Conspiracy | 1930 | Christy Cabanne | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Cyrano de Bergerac | 1950 | Michael Gordon | United Artists | 1980s | [Data unknown/missing.][34][35] | |
The Dance of Life | 1929 | John Cromwell | Paramount Pictures | 1957 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
Danger Lights | 1930 | George B. Seitz | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
The Deadly Companions | 1961 | Sam Peckinpah | Pathé-America | 1961 | Missing copyright notice[36] | |
Debbie Does Dallas | 1978 | Jim Clark | VCX | 1981 | Missing copyright notice[37] | Dallas Cowboys hold veto power on commercial publication due to unauthorized use of their cheerleaders' trademarks.[38] |
Dementia 13 | 1963 | Francis Ford Coppola | American International Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][18] | Also known as The Haunted and the Hunted. |
Detour | 1945 | Edgar G. Ulmer | Producers Releasing Corporation | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[39] | |
The Devil Bat | 1940 | Jean Yarbrough | Producers Releasing Corporation | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][24] | |
Disorder in the Court | 1936 | Preston Black | Columbia Pictures | 1960s[26] | Copyright not renewed.[26] | |
Dixiana | 1930 | Luther Reed | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[33] | |
D.O.A. | 1949 | Rudolph Maté | United Artists | 1977 | Copyright not renewed.[40] | |
Ella Cinders | 1926 | Alfred E. Green | First National Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][41] | |
The Emperor Jones | 1933 | Dudley Murphy | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][42] | |
Father's Little Dividend | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Vincente Minnelli | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
A Farewell to Arms | 1932 | Frank Borzage | Paramount Pictures | 1960 | Copyright not renewed.[44] | Based on copyrighted (R177406) novel by Ernest Hemingway. |
Fear and Desire | 1953 | Stanley Kubrick | Joseph Burstyn | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[45] | |
The Front Page | 1931 | Lewis Milestone | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][46] | |
The General | 1927 | Clyde Bruckman Buster Keaton | United Artists | 1955 | Copyright not renewed.[47] | |
Glen or Glenda | 1953 | Ed Wood | Columbia Classics | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][48] | |
Go for Broke! | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Robert Pirosh | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
God's Little Acre | 1958 | Anthony Mann | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][49] | Colorized version not in public domain.[49] |
The Gold Rush | 1925 | Charlie Chaplin | United Artists | 1953 | Copyright not renewed.[47] | 1942 revised version in copyright. Original 1925 version possibly copyrighted.[50] |
The Gorilla | 1939 | Allan Dwan | 20th Century Fox | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][51] | |
The Great Flamarion | 1945 | Anthony Mann | Republic Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[52] | |
Gulliver's Travels | 1939 | Dave Fleischer | Paramount Pictures | 1967 | Copyright not renewed.[53][54] | |
Half Shot at Sunrise | 1930 | Paul Sloane | RKO Radio Productions | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
His Girl Friday | 1940 (copyright date: 1939) | Howard Hawks | Columbia Pictures | 1967 | Copyright not renewed.[47] | Source material (stage play The Front Page) rights copyright until 2024.[47] |
The Hitch-Hiker | 1953 | Ida Lupino | RKO Radio Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][55] | |
Hook, Line and Sinker | 1930 | Edward F. Cline | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
House on Haunted Hill | 1959 | William Castle | Allied Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][56][57] | |
Indestructible Man | 1956 | Jack Pollexfen | Allied Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][58] | |
Inside the Lines | 1930 | Roy Pomeroy | RKO Radio Productions | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
The Inspector General | 1949 | Henry Koster | Warner Bros. | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][59] | |
It's a Wonderful Life | 1946 (copyright notice: 1947) | Frank Capra | Liberty Films RKO Pictures | 1975 | Copyright not renewed.[60] | While the film images are public domain, under rulings of Stewart v. Abend, the film text (script) is based on the copyrighted short story 'The Greatest Gift'.[60][61][62] Republic also purchased exclusive rights to the movie's copyrighted music to further shore up its rights.[63] |
The Jackie Robinson Story | 1950 | Alfred E. Green | Eagle-Lion Films | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][64] | Ancillary rights owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. |
The Joe Louis Story | 1953 | Robert Gordon | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][65] | |
Kansas City Confidential | 1952 | Phil Karlson | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[66] | |
Kept Husbands | 1931 | Lloyd Bacon | RKO Radio Productions | 1959 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
The Lady Refuses | 1931 | George Archainbaud | RKO Radio Productions | 1959 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
A Lady to Love | 1930 | Victor Sjöström | MGM | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | Based on the play They Knew What They Wanted. |
Last Clear Chance | 1959 | Robert Carlisle | Union Pacific Railroad | 1959 | Not registered for copyright.[67] | |
The Last Man on Earth | 1964 | Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow | American International Pictures, 20th Century Fox | 1992[68] | Copyright not renewed.[68] | |
The Last Time I Saw Paris | 1954 (copyright notice: 1944) | Richard Brooks | MGM | 1972 | Defective copyright notice.[69] | Music score still protected by copyright.[70] |
Lawful Larceny | 1930 | Lowell Sherman | RKO Radio Productions | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Leathernecking | 1930 | Edward F. Cline | RKO Radio Productions | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Letter of Introduction | 1938 | John M. Stahl | Universal Pictures | 1966 | Copyright not renewed.[71] | |
Life with Father | 1947 | Michael Curtiz | Warner Bros. | 1975 | Copyright not renewed.[72] | |
The Little Princess | 1939 | Walter Lang | 20th Century Fox | 1967 | Copyright not renewed.[60] | |
The Little Shop of Horrors | 1960 | Roger Corman | Filmgroup | 1988 | Copyright not renewed.[47][73] | |
Lonely Wives | 1931 | Russell Mack | RKO Radio Pictures | 1959 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Love Affair | 1939 | Leo McCarey | RKO Radio Pictures | 1967 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy | 1945 | Willis Goldbeck | MGM | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[74] | |
The Lucky Texan | 1934 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
Made for Each Other | 1939 | John Cromwell | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][75] | |
Malice in the Palace | 1949 | Jules White | Columbia Pictures | 1960s[26] | Copyright not renewed.[26] | |
The Man from Utah | 1934 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
The Man with the Golden Arm | 1955 | Otto Preminger | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][76] | |
Maniac | 1934 | Dwain Esper | Roadshow Attractions | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][77] | Also known as Sex Maniac. |
Manos: The Hands of Fate | 1966 | Harold P. Warren | Emerson Film Enterprises | 1968 | Failure to display copyright notice.[78] | Original script may have been copyrighted.[78] |
March of the Wooden Soldiers | 1950 | Gus Meins | Lippert Pictures | 1950 | Failure to display copyright notice.[30] | This is a later abridgement of Babes in Toyland (1934), which is still in copyright. Public domain status unclear.[30] |
McLintock! | 1963 | Andrew V. McLaglen | United Artists | 1991 | Copyright not renewed.[79][80] | Music score still under copyright.[79] |
Meet John Doe | 1941 | Frank Capra | Warner Bros. | 1969 | Copyright not renewed.[60] | |
Millie | 1931 | John Francis Dillon | RKO Radio Pictures | 1959 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Mr. Imperium | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Don Hartman | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
My Dear Secretary | 1948 | Charles Martin | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][81] | |
My Favorite Brunette | 1947 | Elliott Nugent | Paramount Pictures | 1975 | Copyright not renewed.[16] | |
My Man Godfrey | 1936 | Gregory La Cava | Universal Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][82] | While the film images are public domain, under rulings of Stewart v. Abend, the film text (script) is based on the copyrighted 1935 book My Man Godfrey by Eric S. Hatch.[83] |
Night of the Living Dead | 1968 | George A. Romero | Walter Reade | 1968 | Missing copyright notice and errors from the distributor[84] | |
Nothing Sacred | 1937 | William A. Wellman | Selznick, United Artists | 1965 | Copyright not renewed.[47] | |
Of Human Bondage | 1934 | John Cromwell | RKO Radio Pictures | 1962 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
Our Town | 1940 | Sam Wood | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][85] | |
The Outlaw | 1943 | Howard Hughes | Howard Hughes Prod., United Artists | 1971 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
The Painted Hills | 1951 | Harold F. Kress | MGM | 1979 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
The Pay-Off | 1930 | Lowell Sherman | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Penny Serenade | 1941 | George Stevens | Columbia Pictures | 1968 | Copyright not renewed.[86] | |
The Phantom of the Opera | 1925 | Rupert Julian | Universal Studios | 1953 | Copyright not renewed.[73] | |
Plan 9 from Outer Space | 1959 | Ed Wood | Distributors Corporation of America | 1987 | [Data unknown/missing.][87] | |
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves | 1937 | Dave Fleischer | Paramount Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][88] | Second of three Popeye Technicolor two-reel specials. |
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor | 1936 | Dave Fleischer | Paramount Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][88] | First of three Popeye Technicolor two-reel specials. |
Pot o' Gold | 1941 | George Marshall | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][89] | |
Quicksand | 1950 | Irving Pichel | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][90] | |
Rage at Dawn | 1955 | Tim Whelan | RKO Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][91] | |
Rain | 1932 | Lewis Milestone | United Artists | 1960 | Copyright not renewed.[16] | |
Randy Rides Alone | 1934 | Harry L. Fraser | Lone Star Pictures | 1934 | Copyright notice lacks claimant.[23] | |
The Red House | 1947 | Delmer Daves | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][92] | |
Reefer Madness | 1936 | Louis J. Gasnier | Motion Picture Ventures | 1936 | Improper copyright notice.[93][94] | Also called The Burning Question, Dope Addict, and Tell Your Children. |
Riders of Destiny | 1933 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
Road to Bali | 1952 | Hal Walker | Paramount Pictures | 1980 | Copyright not renewed on time.[95][96] | Ancillary rights now owned by FremantleMedia. |
Rock, Rock, Rock! | 1956 | Will Price | Distributors Corporation of America | 1984 | Copyright not renewed.[73] | The Chuck Berry soundtrack may not be in the public domain. |
The Royal Bed | 1931 (copyright notice: 1930) | Lowell Sherman | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Royal Wedding | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Stanley Donen | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
Sagebrush Trail | 1933 | Armand Schaefer | Lone Star Pictures | 1933 | Copyright notice lacks claimant.[97] | Remake of Partners of the Trail (Wallace Fox, 1931) |
Salt of the Earth | 1954 | Herbert Biberman | Independent Productions | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][98] | |
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians | 1964 | Nicholas Webster | Embassy Pictures Corporation | [Data unknown/missing.] | Missing copyright notice[99][100] | Musical score owned by Famous Music. |
Santa Fe Trail | 1940 | Michael Curtiz | Warner Bros. | 1968 | Copyright not renewed.[101][102] | |
Scarlet Street | 1945 | Fritz Lang | Universal Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][103][104] | |
The Screaming Skull | 1958 | Alex Nicol | American International Pictures | 1958 | Not registered for copyright.[105][18] | |
Second Chorus | 1940 | H.C. Potter | Paramount Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | Copyright not renewed.[106] | |
The Secret Hour | 1928 | Rowland V. Lee | Paramount Pictures | 1956 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | Based on the play They Knew What They Wanted. |
The Silver Horde | 1930 | George Archainbaud | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Sin Takes a Holiday | 1930 | Paul L. Stein | RKO Radio Pictures | 1958 | Copyright not renewed.[21] | |
Sing a Song of Six Pants | 1947 | Jules White | Columbia Pictures | 1960s[26] | Copyright not renewed.[26] | |
Sinners in Paradise | 1938 | James Whale | Universal Pictures | 1966 | Copyright not renewed.[71] | |
Smouldering Fires | 1925 | Clarence Brown | Universal Pictures | 1953 | Copyright not renewed.[73] | |
The Snows of Kilimanjaro | 1952 | Henry King | 20th Century Fox | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][107] | |
The Southerner | 1945 | Jean Renoir | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][108] | |
A Star Is Born | 1937 | William A. Wellman | Selznick, United Artists | 1965 | Copyright not renewed.[44][47] | |
The Star Packer | 1934 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers | 1946 | Lewis Milestone | Paramount Pictures | 1974 | Copyright not renewed.[16] | |
The Stranger | 1946 | Orson Welles | International Pictures, RKO Radio Productions | 1973 | Copyright not renewed.[109] | |
Suddenly | 1954 | Lewis Allen | United Artists | 1983 | Copyright not renewed.[110] | |
Superman (1940s cartoons) | 1941-1943 | Dave Fleischer, Various | Paramount Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.][111] | [Data unknown/missing.][111] | Although all entries are in the public domain, ancillary rights such as merchandising contract rights, as well as the original 35mm master elements, are owned today by Warner Bros. Animation. Warner has owned Superman publisher DC Comics since 1969. |
Swing High, Swing Low | 1937 | Mitchell Leisen | Paramount Pictures | 1965 | Copyright not renewed.[14] | |
Teenagers from Outer Space | 1959 | Tom Graeff | Warner Bros. | 1987 | Copyright not renewed.[47] | |
The Terror | 1963 | Roger Corman | American International Pictures, Filmgroup | 1963 | Missing copyright registration[112] | In the early 1990s, Corman asked Mark Griffiths to shoot 12 minutes of additional footage starring Dick Miller, thus making a new film titled The Return of the Terror (1991) so Corman could claim his copyright.[113] |
Three Guys Named Mike | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Charles Walters | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
Till the Clouds Roll By | 1946 | Richard Whorf | MGM | 1974 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
Too Late for Tears | 1949 | Byron Haskin | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][114] | |
Topper Returns | 1941 | Roy Del Ruth | United Artists | 1969 | Copyright not renewed.[73] | |
Vengeance Valley | 1951 (copyright notice: 1950) | Richard Thorpe | MGM | 1978 | Copyright not renewed.[43] | |
The Wasp Woman | 1959 | Roger Corman | Filmgroup | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][115] | |
West of the Divide | 1934 | Robert N. Bradbury | Lone Star Pictures | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.].[23] | |
White Zombie | 1932 | Victor Halperin | United Artists | [Data unknown/missing.] | [Data unknown/missing.][116] | Source material for the film may not be in the public domain.[117] |
Wives Under Suspicion | 1938 | James Whale | Universal Pictures | 1966 | Copyright not renewed.[71] |
... with the first being the 1931 Lewis Milestone–directed The Front Page, which also fell into the public domain.
The Great Flamarion is among Duryea's more visible efforts because it fell into the public domain when the original copyright lapsed.[page needed]
But remember the underlying works may still be copyrighted
Sadly, the movie slipped between the cracks and into the public domain, and there now appear to be no decent prints left in existence
The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952, color) has injured writer Gregory Peck going over his past to see if his life has meaning, with Ava Gardner and Susan Hayward. This one has been on many public-domain labels, but this is a pristine print and looks gorgeous.
Orson Welles's 'The Stranger is their newest HD release, made feasible because the RKO picture has fallen into public domain.
Online database for movies, television, and video games | |
Available in | English |
---|---|
Owner | Amazon |
Created by | Col Needham (CEO) |
Subsidiaries | Box Office Mojo |
Website | www.imdb.com |
Alexa rank | 46 (March 2019)[1] |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Optional registration, registered members can write reviews, edit the site, vote on ratings |
Launched | 17 October 1990; 28 years ago |
Current status | Active |
IMDb (Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television programs, home videos and video games, and internet streams, including cast, production crew and personnel biographies, plot summaries, trivia, and fan reviews and ratings. An additional fan feature, message boards, was abandoned in February 2017. Originally a fan-operated website, the database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.
As of October 2018, IMDb has approximately 5.3 million titles (including episodes) and 9.3 million personalities in its database,[2] as well as 83 million registered users.
The movie and talent pages of IMDb are accessible to all internet users, but a registration process is necessary to contribute information to the site.
Most data in the database is provided by volunteer contributors. The site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Users with a proven track record of submitting factual data are given instant approval for additions or corrections to cast, credits, and other demographics of media product and personalities. However, image, name, character name, plot summaries, and title changes are supposedly screened before publication, and usually take between 24 and 72 hours to appear.
All registered users choose their own site name, and most operate anonymously. They have a profile page which shows how long a registered user has been a member, as well as personal movie ratings (should the user decide to display them) and, since 2015, 'badges' are added representing how many contributions a particular registered user has submitted. These badges range from total contributions made to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, etc. If a registered user or visitor is in the entertainment industry and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO.[3] There is no single index of contributors, no index on each profile page of the items contributed, and (except for plot synopses and biographies) no identification of contributors to each product's or person's data pages.
Users are also invited to rate any film on a scale of 1 to 10, and the totals are converted into a weighted mean-rating that is displayed beside each title, with online filters employed to deter ballot-stuffing.
In January 2019, IMDb launched a free movie streaming platform called Freedive, an ad-supported service offering Hollywood movie titles and TV shows. Many Freedive titles are licensed from Sony Pictures.[4]
IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled 'Those Eyes', about actresses with beautiful eyes. Others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an 'Actors List', while Dave Knight began a 'Directors List', and Andy Krieg took over 'THE LIST' from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the 'Actress List'. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, but soon retired people were added, so Needham started what was then (but did not remain) a separate 'Dead Actors/Actresses List'. Steve Hammond started collecting and merging character names for both the actors and actresses lists. When these achieved popularity, they were merged back into the lists themselves. The goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible.
By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17, 1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unixshell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, and thus the database that would become the IMDb was born.[5] At the time, it was known as the 'rec.arts.movies movie database'.
The database had been expanded to include additional categories of filmmakers and other demographic material as well as trivia, biographies, and plot summaries. The movie ratings had been properly integrated with the list data, and a centralized email interface for querying the database had been created by Alan Jay. Later, in 1993, it moved onto the World Wide Web, (a network in its infancy at that time) under the name of Cardiff Internet Movie Database.[6] The database resided on the servers of the computer science department of Cardiff University in Wales. Rob Hartill was the original web interface author. In 1994, the email interface was revised to accept the submission of all information, which enabled people to email the specific list maintainer with their updates. However, the structure remained so that information received on a single film was divided among multiple section managers, the sections being defined and determined by categories of film personnel and the individual filmographies contained therein. Over the next few years, the database was run on a network of mirrors across the world with donated bandwidth.[7]
In 1996 IMDb was incorporated in the United Kingdom, becoming the Internet Movie Database Ltd. Founder Col. Needham became the primary owner as well as the figurehead. General revenue for site operations was generated through advertising, licensing and partnerships.[8]
In 1998, Jeff Bezos, founder, owner, and CEO of Amazon.com, struck a deal with Needham and other principal shareholders to buy IMDb outright for approximately $55 million[9] and attach it to Amazon as a subsidiary, private company.[10] This gave IMDb the ability to pay the shareholders salaries for their work, while Amazon.com would be able to use IMDb as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes.
IMDb continued to expand its functionality. On January 15, 2002, it added a subscription service known as IMDbPro, aimed at entertainment professionals. IMDbPro was announced and launched at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. It provides a variety of services including film production and box office details, as well as a company directory and the ability of subscribers to add personal information pages with details at variance with pages about them appearing in the database.
As an additional incentive for users, as of 2003, users identified as one of 'the top 100 contributors' of hard data received complimentary free access to IMDbPro for the following calendar year; for 2006 this was increased to the top 150 contributors, and for 2010 to the top 250.[11] In 2008, IMDb launched their first official foreign language version with the German IMDb.de. Also in 2008, IMDb acquired two other companies: Withoutabox and Box Office Mojo.
The website was originally Perl-based, but IMDb no longer discloses what software it uses for reasons of security.[12] As of May 2011, the site has been filtered in China for more than one year, although many users address it through proxy server or by VPN.[13]
Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and upload photos of themselves for a yearly fee. This fee gives them membership in IMDbPro. IMDbPro can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is US$19.99 per month, or if paid annually, US$149.99. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in IMDbPro for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as an IMDb user and contribute to the site as well as view its content, however those users enrolled in IMDbPro have greater access and privileges.[14]
On January 26, 2006, 'Full Episode Support' came online, allowing the database to support separate cast and crew listings for each episode of every television series. This increased the number of titles in the database from 485,000 to nearly 755,000.[citation needed]
On October 2, 2007,[citation needed] the characters' filmography was added. Character entries are created from character listings in the main filmography database, and as such do not need any additional verification by IMDb staff. They have already been verified when they are added to the main filmography.
On September 15, 2008, a feature was added that enables instant viewing of over 6,000 movies and television shows from CBS, Sony and a number of independent film makers, with direct links from their profiles.[15] Due to licensing restrictions, this feature is available only to viewers in the United States.[16]
This feature has since been discontinued. As quoted from IMDb.com video faq's 'You won't be able to view the movie or TV Show on IMDb. The videos on IMDb are Trailers, Interviews, Clips, Featurettes, and other original content that dive deeper into great movies and TV shows.'
Date discontinued: [information needed]
Freedive: On January 10, 2019 free viewing option for US locations was once again added. Freedive is available on the IMDb website and on Amazon Fire TV devices. The difference is that this time the content has embedded ads which can not be skipped.[17]
In 2006, IMDb introduced its 'Résumé Subscription Service', where actors and crew can post their own résumé and upload photos of themselves[18] for a yearly fee.[19] The base annual charge for including a photo with an account was US$39.95 until 2010, when it was increased to US$54.95. IMDb résumé pages are kept on a sub-page of the regular entry about that person, with a regular entry automatically created for each résumé subscriber who does not already have one.[20]
As of 2012, Resume Services is now included as part of an IMDbPro subscription, and is no longer offered as a separate subscription service.
All volunteers who contribute content to the database technically retain copyright on their contributions but the compilation of the content becomes the exclusive property of IMDb with the full right to copy, modify, and sublicense it and they are verified before posting.[21] Credit is not given on specific title or filmography pages to the contributor(s) who have provided information. Conversely, a credited text entry, such as a plot summary, may be corrected for content, grammar, sentence structure, perceived omission or error, by other contributors without having to add their names as co-authors. Due to the time required for processing submitted data or text before it is displayed, IMDb is different from user-contributed projects like Wikipedia, Discogs, or OpenStreetMap in that contributors cannot add, delete, or modify the data or text on impulse, and the manipulation of data is controlled by IMDb technology and salaried staff.[22]
IMDb has been subject to deliberate additions of false information; in 2012 a spokesperson said: 'We make it easy for users and professionals to update much of our content, which is why we have an 'edit page.' The data that is submitted goes through a series of consistency checks before it goes live. Given the sheer volume of the information, occasional mistakes are inevitable, and, when reported, they are promptly fixed. We always welcome corrections.'[23]
The Java Movie Database (JMDB)[24] is reportedly creating an IMDb_Error.log file that lists all the errors found while processing the IMDb plain text files. A Wiki alternative to IMDb is Open Media Database[25] whose content is also contributed by users but licensed under CC-by and the GFDL. Since 2007, IMDb has been experimenting with wiki-programmed sections for complete film synopses, parental guides, and FAQs about titles as determined by (and answered by) individual contributors.
IMDb does not provide an API for automated queries. However, most of the data can be downloaded as compressed plain text files and the information can be extracted using the command-line interface tools provided.[26] There is also a Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) application available that is able to process the compressed plain text files, which allows a search and a display of the information.[24] This GUI application supports different languages, but the movie related data are in English, as made available by IMDb. A Python package called IMDbPY can also be used to process the compressed plain text files into a number of different SQL databases, enabling easier access to the entire dataset for searching or data mining.[27]
The IMDb has sites in English as well as versions translated completely or in part into other languages (Danish, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian). The non-English language sites display film titles in the specified language. Originally, IMDb's English language sites displayed titles according to their original country-of-origin language, however, in 2010 IMDb began allowing individual users in the UK and USA to choose primary title display by either the original-language titles, or the US or UK release title (normally, in English).
As one adjunct to data, the IMDb offers a rating scale that allows users to rate films on a scale of one to ten. It has been alleged that the rating system is flawed, for several reasons.[28]
IMDb indicates that submitted ratings are filtered and weighted in various ways in order to produce a weighted mean that is displayed for each film, series, and so on. It states that filters are used to avoid ballot stuffing; the method is not described in detail to avoid attempts to circumvent it. In fact, it sometimes produces an extreme difference between the weighted average and the arithmetic mean.
The IMDb Top 250 is a list of the top rated 250 films, based on ratings by the registered users of the website using the methods described. As of 7 February 2019, The Shawshank Redemption is #1 on the list.[29] The 'Top 250' rating is based on only the ratings of 'regular voters'. The number of votes a registered user would have to make to be considered as a user who votes regularly has been kept secret. IMDb has stated that to maintain the effectiveness of the Top 250 list they 'deliberately do not disclose the criteria used for a person to be counted as a regular voter'.[30] In addition to other weightings, the Top 250 films are also based on a weighted rating formula referred to in actuarial science as a credibility formula.[31] This label arises because a statistic is taken to be more credible the greater the number of individual pieces of information; in this case from eligible users who submit ratings. Although the current formula is not disclosed, IMDb originally used the following formula to calculate their weighted rating:[32][33]
where:The in this formula is equivalent to a Bayesian posterior mean (see Bayesian statistics).
The IMDb also has a Bottom 100 feature which is assembled through a similar process although only 1500 votes must be received to qualify for the list.[34]
The Top 250 list comprises a wide range of feature films, including major releases, cult films, independent films, critically acclaimed films, silent films, and non-English language films. Documentaries, short films and TV episodes are not currently included.
Since 2015, there has been a Top 250 list devoted to ranking television shows.[35]
Beginning in 2001, the Internet Movie Database also maintained message boards for every title (excepting, as of 2013, TV episodes[36]) and name entry, along with over 140 main boards. This began in 2001. In order to post on the message boards a user needed to 'authenticate' their account via cell phone, credit card, or by having been a recent customer of the parent company Amazon.com. Message boards expanded in recent years. The Soapbox started in 1999 as a general message board meant for debates on any subjects. The Politics board started in 2007 was a message board to discuss politics, news events, and current affairs, as well as history and economics.[citation needed]
By February 20, 2017, all the message boards and their content were permanently removed. According to the website, the decision was made because the boards were 'no longer providing a positive, useful experience for the vast majority of our more than 250 million monthly users worldwide'[37], and others have mentioned its susceptibility to trolling and disagreeable behavior.[38][39][40] Col Needham also mentioned in a post some months earlier that the boards received less income from ads, and that their members only made up a very small part of the website's visitors. The boards were costly to run due to the system's age and dated design, which did not make business sense.[41] The decision to remove the message boards was met with outspoken backlash from some of its users, and sparked an online petition garnering over 8,000 signatures.[42] In the days leading up to February 20, 2017, both Archive.org[43] and MovieChat.org[44] preserved the entire contents of the IMDb message boards using web scraping. Archive.org and MovieChat.org have published IMDb message board archives, which is legal under the fair use doctrine, because it has no effect on IMDb's potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.[45][46]
As of December 2018, IMDb has the following statistics:[2]
Type | Titles |
---|---|
Feature film | 505,380 |
Short film | 656,885 |
TV series | 156,992 |
TV episode | 3,754,173 |
TV movie | 126,398 |
TV special | 14,422 |
TV mini-series | 24,083 |
TV short | 8,894 |
Video | 217,703 |
Video game | 22,464 |
In 2011, in the case of Hoang v. Amazon.com, IMDb was sued by an anonymous actress for more than US$1,000,000 due to IMDb's revealing her age (40, at the time).[47] The actress claimed that revealing her age could cause her to lose acting opportunities.[48] Judge Marsha J. Pechman, a U.S. district judge in Seattle, dismissed the lawsuit, saying the actress had no grounds to proceed with an anonymous complaint. The actress re-filed and so revealed that she was Huong Hoang of Texas, who uses the stage name Junie Hoang.[49] In 2013, Pechman dismissed all causes of action except for a breach of contract claim against IMDb; a jury then sided with IMDb on that claim.[50] The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in March 2015.[51]
Also in 2011, in the case of United Video Properties Inc., et al. v. Amazon.Com Inc. et al.,[52] IMDb and Amazon were sued by Rovi Corporation and others for patent infringement over their various program listing offerings.[53] The patent claims were ultimately construed in a way favorable to IMDb and Rovi / United Video Properties lost the case.[54] In April 2014, the decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.[55]
On January 1, 2017, the State of California implemented state bill AB-1687, a SAG-AFTRA-backed anti-ageism statute which requires 'commercial online entertainment employment services' to honor requests by their subscribers for their ages and birthdays to be hidden.[56] By the beginning of 2017, IMDb had received more than 2,300 requests from individuals to remove their date of birth from the site. Included in this group were 10 Academy Award winners and another 71 nominated for Oscars, Emmys, or Golden Globes.[57]On February 23, 2017, Judge Vince Girdhari Chhabria issued a stay on the bill pending a further trial, claiming that it possibly violated the First Amendment because it inhibited the public consumption of factual information. He also questioned the intent of the bill, as it was ostensibly meant to target IMDb.[58]
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