In reply to Wayne Borean aka The Mad Hatter.
The first place I went looking was in my own DVD library. Part of the reason for this particular film festival was to raise awareness among ordinary people who know nothing beyond “common knowledge” about copyright law or the public domain. Most people have no idea what they can or can’t do with things they “own.” I couldn’t have shown “The Truth About Charlie” yesterday without paying a copyright collective, but I could show the movie on the flip side of the DVD because “Charade” is in the Public Domain.
I wanted to demonstrate the different ways things can become free culture. Harold Lloyd is a wonderful example of the harm that can be done by copyright. Harold exercised his copyright to retain tight control over his own work, so even though he was bigger (and richer) than Chaplin back in the day, today he is virtually unknown. And still only his pre-1923 films are PD.
I could have done an entire day on animation, or TV, or Film Noir… and I am sure I will; this won’t be my only Free Culture Film Festival. 🙂