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  1. #1
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    Default Public domain movies

    Was there already a thread discusssion about public domain films here? If so, then please merge this thread to the old thread.



    Frank Sinatra's film "suddenly" was rather interesting and a bit enjoyable to watch. Too bad I can only find it on Youtube, since the copyright has not been renewed, so it is in public domain.

    According to Wikipedia article on Suddenly (1954_film)
    The "Suddenly" film's copyright was not renewed and it entered the public domain, it can be downloaded and viewed for free online

  2. #2
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    Go for Broke! is a rare gem that everyone in the next generations should watch. It wasn't a great film but still enjoyable to watch. and the film showed the positive portrayal of Japanese American soldiers serving their country in the WWII. Too bad the copyright for this film was not renewed, so it means you can't find it in video stores but on Youtube.



    According to Wikipedia,
    In 1979, the film Go for Broke! entered the public domain in the United States because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer failed to renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication

  3. #3
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    According to Wikipedia,
    In 1968, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication


    It was quite an entertaining Shirley Temple film.

  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member Gaastra's Avatar
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    Here is an animated one. Was going to star popeye but the studio wanted to copy snow white more real look and changed it removing popeye as the main hero. They later said it was a huge mistake as the expensive film bombed and as big as popeye was at the time (he was bigger than mickey mouse in ww2!) it could have been a big hit!


  5. #5
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gaastra View Post
    Here is an animated one. Was going to star popeye but the studio wanted to copy snow white more real look and changed it removing popeye as the main hero. They later said it was a huge mistake as the expensive film bombed and as big as popeye was at the time (he was bigger than mickey mouse in ww2!) it could have been a big hit!

    Hey, how come I didn't see this film before? I should have. thanks for sharing it with us

  6. #6
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gaastra View Post
    Here is an animated one. Was going to star popeye but the studio wanted to copy snow white more real look and changed it removing popeye as the main hero. They later said it was a huge mistake as the expensive film bombed and as big as popeye was at the time (he was bigger than mickey mouse in ww2!) it could have been a big hit!

    A really good animated film from the Fleischer Bros., I've seen it many times. Also look for Hoppity Goes to Town, also called Mr. Bug Goes to Town.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  7. #7
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    According to Wikipedia,
    The film is among the list of films in the public domain in the United States. However a new copyrighted "restored and in color" version was released in conjunction with the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 2008.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackie_Robinson_Story

    So I am guessing the movie version "THE JACKIE ROBINSON STORY" shown on YouTube wasn't the copyrighted version.

  8. #8
    Extraordinary Member Jokerz79's Avatar
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    This is Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price 1st adaptation of the Book I Am Legend which later was adapted into Omega Man with Charleston Heston and I Am Legend with Will Smith. The book and possibly film were inspirations for Romero's Night of the Living Dead which is also a Public Domain film.

  9. #9
    Mighty Member Zauriel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jokerz79 View Post


    This is Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price 1st adaptation of the Book I Am Legend which later was adapted into Omega Man with Charleston Heston and I Am Legend with Will Smith. The book and possibly film were inspirations for Romero's Night of the Living Dead which is also a Public Domain film.
    I understand that director Romero's Night of the Living Dead entered the Public Domain due to a mistake. I can't believe the film makers failed to copyright their blockbuster film which earned more than 250 times its budget, thus making it one of the most profitable film productions ever made at the time.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_...and_home_media
    In the United States, Night of the Living Dead was mistakenly released into the public domain because the original distributor failed to replace the copyright notice when changing the film's name. Image Ten displayed a notice on the title frames of the film beneath the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, but the Walter Reade Organization removed it when changing the title. At that time, United States copyright law held that public dissemination required copyright notice to maintain a copyright. Several years after the film's release, its creators discovered that the original prints distributed to theaters had no copyright protection.

    Because Night of the Living Dead was not copyrighted, it has received hundreds of home video releases on VHS, Betamax, DVD, Blu-ray, and other formats. Over two hundred distinct versions of the film have been released on tapes alone. Numerous versions of the film have appeared on DVD, Blu-ray, and LaserDisc with varying quality. The original film is available to view or download for free on many websites. As of October 2023, it is the Internet Archive's second most-downloaded film, with over 3.5 million downloads.

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member Gaastra's Avatar
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    Heading into pd in a week list.

    https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2024/

    Noted ones other than mickey are--

    House at pooh corner book-tigger enters pd.
    Peter pan boy who never grew up book
    All quiet on the western front book
    Steamboat willie short silent version so no mickey voice in pd?
    Man who laughs where batmans joker came from movie!
    Mach the knife German version
    Marx bros animal crackers
    We have no bananas song

  11. #11
    Ultimate Member ChrisIII's Avatar
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    Some of the films which later show up in MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATHER 3000 are now Public domain I think.

    Of course the MST3K versions do edit some of the footage for the shorts and the in-between segments in addition to their own commentary.

    Of course there are several which aren't, which I think has led to some copyright issues and one episode being delayed I think towards the end (Merlin I think?)
    chrism227.wordpress.com Info and opinions on a variety of interests.

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  12. #12
    Better than YOU! Alan2099's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisIII View Post
    Some of the films which later show up in MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATHER 3000 are now Public domain I think.

    Of course the MST3K versions do edit some of the footage for the shorts and the in-between segments in addition to their own commentary.

    Of course there are several which aren't, which I think has led to some copyright issues and one episode being delayed I think towards the end (Merlin I think?)
    There was one case where they released a Godzilla movie on DVD and two years later pulled all the copies because they lost the rights and stucka different movie on the DVD in it's place.

    They did also shoot a quick new skit where TV's Frank explains "Hey, it's not my fault, I don't speak Japanese. Toho said "no-ho", and I thought they meant "yes"!" and then he adds that they've got another movie to replace it with that they don't think they'll have any legal issues with. It's called Star Wars.


    (Actually they replaced it with The Giant Gila Monster.)

  13. #13
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    If shorts count.

  14. #14
    Extraordinary Member Gaastra's Avatar
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    CBS on mickey steamboat willie going pd tomorrow.


  15. #15
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    A great resource is the Open Culture website, which includes links to a lot of public domain or otherwise free movies.

    https://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

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