Public Reel

Free films, with the evidence.

Public Reel reads the Copyright Office's own catalogs, shows the record behind each film, and takes the free ones apart shot by shot.

Free now

Films whose record shows an expired term or no renewal, each opened up in the shot atlas: every cut, one frame per shot, the transcript, and annotated passages with the copyright record beside them.

Poster for His Girl FridayHis Girl Friday 1940Poster for NosferatuNosferatu 1922Poster for The GeneralThe General 1927Poster for Steamboat WillieSteamboat Willie 1928Poster for Meet John DoeMeet John Doe 1941Poster for Scarlet StreetScarlet Street 1945Poster for The StrangerThe Stranger 1946Poster for DetourDetour 1945Poster for The Hitch-HikerThe Hitch-Hiker 1953Poster for White ZombieWhite Zombie 1932Poster for The Most Dangerous GameThe Most Dangerous Game 1932Poster for A Star Is BornA Star Is Born 1937Image from The Snows of KilimanjaroThe Snows of Kilimanjaro 1952Image from Secret AgentSecret Agent 1936Poster for They Made Me a CriminalThey Made Me a Criminal 1939Image from ImpactImpact 1949Image from Dishonored LadyDishonored Lady 1947Poster for Sagebrush TrailSagebrush Trail 1933

All 141 films in the shot atlas · 1,167 films to watch

Free from 1 January 2027

Renewed films of 1931 whose 95-year term runs out on 31 December 2026, by the record. Each opens the registration and renewal record behind that date.

Poster for DraculaDracula 1931Poster for FrankensteinFrankenstein 1931Poster for City LightsCity Lights 1931Poster for The Public EnemyThe Public Enemy 1931Poster for TabuTabu 1931Poster for Platinum BlondePlatinum Blonde 1931Poster for A Free SoulA Free Soul 1931Poster for SkippySkippy 1931Image from PossessedPossessed 1931Image from Night NurseNight Nurse 1931Image from Waterloo BridgeWaterloo Bridge 1931Image from Trader HornTrader Horn 1931

All of the 2027 cohort · Later years · The timeline of term ends

US copyright evidence, not clearance for a particular use. Automated findings need verification.

Check a titleRead its registration, linked renewals, and the catalog text behind the finding. Find a film to watch1,167 films with Archive copies and a registry finding of an expired term or no renewal found. Find a shotSearch 47,017 shots in 141 films by frame description or words on screen.
What the registry holds, and how to read a finding

Motion-picture registrations from 1912–1963, matched against renewal records through 2023. US government films form a separate track. The curated shelf explains each title's evidence and limitations.

36,220Copyright term expired
registrations19,800No renewal found
registrations39,350Renewed
registrations12,517Uncertain
registrations

The four counts are registrations (107,887 in all); a film with several registrations, such as a serial, counts once per registration, so they cover 94,512 catalog entries. Renewal volumes loaded for 1957–2023, covering films registered 1930–1963 (printed volumes through 1977, the Copyright Office's public records after). Sources, assumptions, and known limitations.

Worked examples

A title can appear twice: a remake, a reissue or a re-registration is a separate registration with its own record.

Separate registrations can have different findings.
FilmYearRegistry finding
A Farewell to Arms1957Renewed
A Farewell to Arms1933No renewal found
Frankenstein1931Renewed
King Kong1933Renewed
Of Human Bondage1946Renewed
Of Human Bondage1934No renewal found
Sagebrush Trail1933No renewal found
The General1930Copyright term expired
The General1926Copyright term expired
The Little Princess1939No renewal found
Read "no renewal found" carefully. It means our parse of the renewal volumes did not find a renewal. The volumes are OCR of 1950s–60s print and some records are unreadable; the method page gives the per-volume numbers. Treat it as strong evidence to verify, not as a verdict.