Today in Film History (January 7th, 1894): One of the First Motion Pictures to be Copyrighted, "Fred Ott's Sneeze", is Captured!

Today in Film History (January 7th, 1894): One of the First Motion Pictures to be Copyrighted, "Fred Ott's Sneeze", is Captured!

On January 7th, 1894, the early motion picture entitled, "Fred Ott's Sneeze", was captured by William K.L. Dickson. The film was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company, and was filmed within the Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, which was the first U.S. movie studio. It was displayed, at the time, on Kinteoscope. The film features one of Thomas Edison's assistants, Fred Ott, as he sneezes. According to the Library of Congress, "Fred Ott's Sneeze" is the second oldest surviving U.S. motion picture to be copyrighted, (it was copyrighted on January 9th, 1894), although it is now in the public domain.

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