Sure that those films (1890 1923) are in the public domain?

Question

Sure that those films (1890 1923) are in the public domain?

Answer 1

There are books that purport to list films in the public domain, but they should be used only as a preliminary source of information. The Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain and Motion Picture Copyrights & Renewals 1950-1959 (bibliographic citations below) expand upon Library of Congress publications of the Catalog of Copyright Entries by providing renewal information. However, even for films where no renewal was found, you will need to check further. Be sure to read the introductory matter when using either publication.

Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain. Created by Walter E. Hurst; updated edition by D. Richard Baer. Hollywood, Calif.: Hollywood Film Archive, 1992-1994. (Three volumes to date, covering 50,000 films from the years 1894-1939, 1940-49, and 1950-59.)

Motion Picture Copyrights & Renewals 1950-1959 by David Pierce. Laurel, MD: Milestone, 1989.