List of films 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.

[1] This list is not comprehensive; the vast majority of public domain films are not included here for various reasons.

The United States is a "patchwork quilt" of inconsistent copyright rules in different federal judicial districts.

[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.

The Library of Congress also published cumulative Copyright Catalogs of motion picture registrations for the periods, which all are out of print.

As a result of the passage of the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, a copyright notice is not required for films published on March 1, 1989, or later.

[11] All motion pictures made and exhibited before 1930 are indisputably in the public domain in the United States.

The semi-annual Copyright Catalog booklets have virtually complete lists of renewals for the films registered 28 years earlier.

Many of the films listed below are based on novels, plays, magazine stories or a combination of these sources.

[4] All works made by United States government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain from their creation.