Generic Work

Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, January 7, 1894

Considered to be the first motion picture given legal status by copyright acceptance, this 5-second film shows Edison employee Fred Ott sneezing. The forty-five frames were originally sent for copyright as a still picture, then later rephotographed and turned back into a motion picture. Filmed at Edison's Black Maria studio in West Orange, New Jersey, with William Heise as camera operator. This historically significant work represents one of the earliest surviving copyrighted motion pictures and demonstrates the experimental nature of early cinema technology.

Title
  • Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, January 7, 1894

Last modified
  • 02/09/2026

Creator
Bibliographic citation
  • Edison kinetoscopic record of a sneeze, January 7, 1894. Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

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