Love comes to the public domain

Posted on November 5, 2023 by John Mark Ockerbloom

The posters for the silent drama Love read “John Gilbert and Greta Garbo in LOVE”, playing off both the on-screen and off-screen romance of its two stars. The movie, based on Anna Karenina, was filmed with two endings, one where Anna has the same end as in Tolstoy’s novel, and one with a happier ending. American audiences preferred the latter (and Rick’s Cafe Texan defends it in this review). The film’s copyright (from 1928, despite its 1927 release) happily ends in 57 days.

Unknown's avatar

About John Mark Ockerbloom

I'm a digital library strategist at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.
This entry was posted in publicdomain and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Love comes to the public domain

  1. Unknown's avatar John Mark Ockerbloom says:
    November 5, 2023 at 11:25 am

    @everybodyslibraries.com In case you're wondering how a 1927 film gets a 1928 copyright: Like plays, films aren't necessarily considered 'published' the first time audiences get to see them. A film may be considered unpublished until it's been offered for rental to independent theater owners, or otherwise distributed to the public outside studio control. (See https://copyright.gov/circs/circ45.pdf ) The copyright registration for Love dates the start of its term as January 9, 1928.

Comments are closed.