Film Noir in Public Domain

[Matt Crunk]

Anyone know of a comprehensive list of noir films that have fallen into public domain?

Also, can anyone shed some light on why some films fall into PD after 50 years, but others even much older do not?

Just wondering, as I am working up an idea for a film project that would use snippets of footage from PD noir films re-arranged and intercut with new footage to tell an original story (a lot like Carl Reiner and Steve Martin did with Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid).

-MC

 

[Lady Day]

Well most copyrights that were going to fall into PD for most films were given new legislation and have been extended 20+ years, so chances are, not much is in PD.

LD

 

[Midnight Palace]

Matt,

Some Films Noir that are in PD are:

D.O.A.
Scarlett Street
The Scar
Kansas City Confidential
He Walked By Night
They Made Me A Criminal
Detour
Behind Green Lights
M


Gary

 

[The Wolf]

Possibly "The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers".

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Lincsong]

Yeah, Congress passed that law back, in I think 1998 that rearranged the Public Domain so now it has to be at least 100 years old beginning in 2022. So movies made in 1921 become Public Domain in 2022 and so on. It was total special interest legislation and the public got the rod.:rage:

 

[Matt Crunk]

Yeah, Congress passed that law back, in I think 1998 that rearranged the Public Domain so now it has to be at least 100 years old beginning in 2022. So movies made in 1921 become Public Domain in 2022 and so on. It was total special interest legislation and the public got the rod.:rage:

Yeah, but anything already in public domain before that time will remain so, is that right?

-MC

 

[The Wolf]

If you are a Bell Lugosi fan I have good news. It seems like most of his movies are public domain. Mysteries, serials and Dead End Kids shorts with him are always available on the cheap because thay are p.d.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Lincsong]

Yeah, but anything already in public domain before that time will remain so, is that right?

-MC

Correct. If it already was in the public domain it remained so. This type of legislation was total nonsense. fftopic: I won't go further.:rage:

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

For these you'll need a bittorrent client - This is a pretty extensive list of PD films, serial TV shows, etc. Public Domain Torrents.

If you don't want to bother with torrents, or you want to search a bit further, try Internet Archives.