Is A Dog's Life (1918) public domain?

Country of origin: US · Last verified: 2026-10-03 · Researched by Written, produced and directed by Charles Chaplin; distributed by First National Pictures, released 14 April 1918

Film print: Clear — this verdict covers the film print only, not the layers below.

⚠️ Planning to upload or monetize? A public-domain film print does not clear the music score, story, or restorations — and the score is the single most common cause of YouTube Content ID claims. Check every layer, not just the print.
Pre-1972 sound recordings can be protected under US state law and the Music Modernization Act until 2067 or later — the print being public domain does not free the recorded music.

Watching: Watching via the linked archival copies is generally the lowest-risk activity.

Reusing / monetizing: The film print may be free, but at least one layer (music, story, or restoration) is unresolved — expect Content ID claims; keep evidence handy and consider removing or replacing the score.

📄 Download the print-layer research packet (Markdown) — citations you can attach to a dispute. Not legal advice; print layer only.

Rights, layer by layer

A film is not one copyright — it is several. Each layer below can be free or protected independently. This is why one-click “public domain” answers are wrong so often.

Film print (photoplay)	Clear	term_expiry Published 1918 in the US. Maximum copyright term under the 1909 Act as extended by the 1976 Act and the 1998 Sonny Bono CTEA is 95 years (28-year initial + 67-year renewal term). The copyright on the original 1918 print — even assuming timely renewal in 1945–1946 — ran to December 31, 2013. As of 2026 the term is fully exhausted. — US Copyright Office FAQ on copyright duration for pre-1978 works
Music score	Active rights	research_note Silent film — the original 1918 release contained no synchronized musical score, only intertitles. The silent print itself is in the public domain. However, any copy bearing a newly recorded orchestral accompaniment (including the score substituted in the 1959 Chaplin Revue release) carries a separate, protected sound recording in that audio layer. The 2026 MoMA reconstruction likewise may carry a newly licensed accompaniment. — Bologna Cinema Ritrovato 2026 program — notes that the MoMA restoration reconstructed the original 1918 release, explicitly reversing the 1959 Chaplin Revue version which had replaced intertitles with an orchestral score
Underlying story / screenplay	Clear	term_expiry Original screenplay written solely by Chaplin; no prior literary or dramatic source work identified. The screenplay was created and published as an integral part of the 1918 film, sharing its 1918 publication date and the same 95-year maximum US copyright term, now fully exhausted. — US Copyright Office FAQ on copyright duration for pre-1978 works; no source adaptation noted in any scholarly reference to the film
Character trademarks	Unclear	research_note The Little Tramp character (bowler hat, cane, toothbrush mustache, baggy trousers) and the 'Charlie Chaplin' name are actively managed by Roy Export SAS and Association Chaplin. Trademark protection survives copyright expiry. Commercial uses that exploit the Tramp's visual identity or the Chaplin name require a clearance search of live USPTO records before proceeding. — The Chaplin Office — Roy Export SAS official trademark and licensing contact page
Restorations / re-releases	Active rights	research_note A 4K reconstruction of the original 1918 release was completed in 2026 by MoMA at Cineric laboratory, working from MoMA's 35mm negative, under the aegis of Association Chaplin and Roy Export S.A.S., with funding from the Barbara Wertz and Lillian Gish Trust for Film Preservation. This restoration embeds new creative authorship (editorial reconstruction of original takes, color grading, intertitle restoration) and is a protected work independent of the underlying public-domain print. Do not use the MoMA 4K print without a license from Roy Export. — Bologna Cinema Ritrovato 2026 — A Dog's Life program listing

Automatic rule notes

Published 1918: US copyright term (95 years) has expired for works published through 1930 — the film print is public domain in the US by term expiry, regardless of country of origin.

Watch it free (archival copies)

A Dog's Life (1918) directed by Charlie Chaplin — Internet Archive community upload · community

Background

A Dog's Life is a 33-minute silent comedy short written, produced, and directed by Charles Chaplin, released on April 14, 1918, as the first film under his landmark $1 million contract with First National Pictures. The film pairs Chaplin's Tramp with a stray dog named Scraps; the two outcasts team up, stumble on a buried wallet, and escape toward a better life together. Crucially, the First National contract gave Chaplin ownership of his original negatives — an unusual arrangement that produced cleaner archival provenance than most silents of this era — and the film has circulated widely in usable transfers. It is a finished, three-act work rather than a string of gags, making it more structurally intact than many contemporaries and easier to repurpose in longer documentary or educational contexts.

The rights trap here is not the print but the character. The US copyright on the 1918 release ran its 95-year maximum term and expired on January 1, 2014; no license from Roy Export is required to use the footage. What Roy Export SAS and Association Chaplin actively enforce are trademark rights in the Little Tramp's visual identity — the bowler hat, cane, toothbrush mustache, and baggy trousers as a unified character mark — and the 'Charlie Chaplin' name. Editing Tramp footage into a documentary or archival film is on firm legal ground; selling merchandise bearing the Tramp likeness or branding a product as Chaplin-inspired faces live trademark exposure. A second trap: the 2026 MoMA 4K reconstruction is a separately copyrighted work; any copy sourced from that restoration is not free to use regardless of the underlying print's public-domain status.

Common questions

Can I use this film on YouTube or in a documentary without a license?

Yes for the original silent print — the US copyright expired by January 1, 2014 after the 95-year maximum term. Verify that your source copy is not the 2026 MoMA 4K reconstruction (which is protected under its own copyright) and check whether the copy carries a newly recorded musical score, since a modern soundtrack is a separate protected recording even when the underlying images are free.

Does Roy Export SAS still own copyright in this film?

Not in the United States. The US copyright on the 1918 print has fully expired. Roy Export SAS holds active trademark rights in the Little Tramp character and the Chaplin name, and it holds separate copyrights in its own modern restorations. Those rights are distinct from the 1918 film's copyright; US reusers do not need a Roy Export license to use the original silent footage, but should not commercialize the Tramp's trademarked visual identity without clearance.