Reproductions & Rights

The Picture Palace sells faithful reproductions of film posters and lobby cards that are in the public domain in the United States. We are a U.S. seller and apply U.S. public-domain rules.

Gated by the poster’s own year

We determine public-domain status by the poster’s own publication year — the year the printed sheet was published — not the film’s release year. A later re-release poster does not inherit an earlier film’s date.

• Published 1930 or earlier: public domain in the U.S. under the 95-year rule. This includes European material, evaluated under the U.S.-seller framework.
• Published 1931–1963: a research lane, not a presumption. A U.S. poster from this period can be public domain because it was published without a copyright notice or because its copyright was not renewed. We issue such a verdict only through human-gated research, with the citation recorded on the piece.

A faithful photographic reproduction of a public-domain two-dimensional work does not attract a new copyright (the Bridgeman framework). Nothing publishes here without a rights verdict of CLEAR; each piece states its basis, source institution, and source record.

Marks & likenesses

A poster may depict a studio mark, a character, or a performer. We sell the poster as a historic artifact and name the film; we do not adopt any studio mark or character into our branding, and we do not use a performer’s name to market a piece. Trademark and personality rights are distinct from copyright; where a piece carries such a consideration, we note it and sell the artifact only.

Restoration is disclosed

Where a scan has been digitally restored (fold lines, stains, losses), the piece says so in its conservation note. We restore honestly and never alter a design.

This page explains our practice; it is not legal advice. Questions about a specific piece? The source record is linked on every piece page.