This catalog consists of two parts: Motion Pictures, 1894–1912, which is a list of main entries arranged alphabetically under title, and a Claimant Index, which is a list of the claimants of copyright in the motion pictures included in the main section.

Motion Pictures, 1894–1912

The items which constitute each entry are given below in the order in which they appear. In general, the entry consists only of title, name of the claimant of copyright, date of the beginning of the copyright term, and registration number. Other information is included if given in the record books. Explanatory and corrective information not available in the records of the Copyright Office and supplied by the compiler, Mr. Howard L. Walls, always appears in brackets.

1. Title. The title is given in the form in which it appears in the record book. The main title is followed, as applicable, by subtitle, alternate title, and translated title. Cross-references from alternate and translated titles are included in the list. Information which appears in the title in the record book and which relates to the principal player or to the number of parts and scenes is given in a brief statement following the title as described above. Sometimes such information includes a numeral which may well have had originally some descriptive value but which cannot now be identified, either as a production number, a catalog number, or a number indicating the relationship of the particular film to other films. In many instances, the successive scenes or parts of a motion picture were registered separately, each registration including the main title and the title of the particular part. In such cases the main title is given, followed by other elements in the entry relating to the whole motion picture, and the numbers and titles of the separate parts are listed below the main part of the entry, each part of the title being followed by information relating to it alone.

2. Name of the claimant. This name is given as it appears in the record book and is immediately preceded by the copyright symbol ©.

3. Date. This date includes the day, month, and year of the beginning of the term of copyright protection and is determined by different requirements in the periods separated by the date July 1, 1909. Prior to July 1 of that year, the date of the recording in the Copyright Office of the title page of a published work determined the beginning of the term of copyright protection. During this period the law also provided for the deposit of two copies of the work when published. Because the record of these deposits was not consistently kept in the record books, the information has been omitted from the entries in this catalog. Beginning with July 1, 1909, provision was made for copyright protection both of published and of unpublished works in some classes, among which photographs and, later, motion pictures were included. For published works, the date of the beginning of the term of copyright was determined by the date of publication supplied in the application; for unpublished works, by the deposit of one copy in the Copyright Office. These facts are indicated in the entries by the use of date alone for all published works and by the addition of the abbreviation 1c immediately preceding the date for all unpublished works.

4. Registration number. Prior to January 1, 1900, all works were numbered in sequence as they were registered, and a new series of numbers was established at the beginning of each calendar year. In citing the number for any registration made during this period, the year date must, therefore, be given. To achieve brevity, however, the year date is not repeated in the entry in connection with the registration number, because the number immediately follows the full date in each entry. Beginning with January 1, 1900, the material received in the Copyright Office was divided for purposes of registration into classes designated by letters of the alphabet. Three different series of classes were used in chronological sequence during the next 12 years; in consequence, the registration numbers of motion pictures registered as photographs included in this catalog are preceded by class designations as follows:

Sample Entries:

THE AWKWARD MAN; or, OH! SO CLUMSY. © The Vitagraph Co. of America; 19June1907; H95361.

CORBETT AND COURTNEY BEFORE THE KINETOGRAPH. © Wm. K. L. Dickson; 17Nov1894; 53707.

EDNA’S IMPRISONMENT, scenes 1–4. © Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

Scene 1. © 9May1911; J155327.

Scene 2. © 9May1911; J155328.

Scene 3. © 9May1911; J155329.

Scene 4. © 9May1911; J155330.

SOUVENIR STRIP OF THE EDISON KINETOSCOPE [Sandow, the modern Hercules]. © W. K. L. Dickson; 18May1894; 10777.

OH! SO CLUMSY. SEE The Awkward Man.

WILLIAM J. BRYAN IN THE BIOGRAPH. © American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 10Sept1900; D17977.

Claimant Index

This index lists the names of the claimants of copyright in the motion pictures included in the main section. Each name is given in the fullest form on record in the Copyright Office with cross-references from variant forms. The names are arranged alphabetically under the distinctive part of each name. Under each name are listed the titles of the motion pictures connected with the name, arranged, first, chronologically by the year date, and, second, alphabetically by title.