Public Domain Greats

As of January 1, 2022 all films released in 1926 and earlier are in the public domain in the United States. In 2023, all films released in 1927 will enter the public domain, and so on. Films on this list released in later years lost their copyright status for a variety of reasons while protected under old copyright laws. Obviously, this list is far from exhaustive and presents only a small selection of the public domain’s ever-increasing riches.

(Copyright can vary by country and/or region. Also, it is possible for public domain films to contain or be based on materials still under copyright...