Occasionally there have been questions posted on Screen-L about
ascertaining if a film is public domain or not. Today a Website was
brought to my attention that sells PD films to TV stations:
http://www.retrofilm.com
They're not a distributor for home-use VHS tapes, but they do claim to be
"Your one-stop source for public domain films and video with the largest
virtual catalog for broadcast quality public domain movies and television
on the planet with 5,000 titles and counting. ... Programming has been
researched through the Library of Congress and all programming is
royalty-free."
I don't know whether they'd sell to schools or what their pricing is, but
at least they're one resource where you could check to see if a film is
generally thought to be in public domain.
Jeremy Butler
[log in to unmask]
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