A Lawman Is Born

Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal of copyright with the US Copyright Office during their 28th year to maintain protection. 'A Lawman Is Born' was released on June 21, 1937, and was originally registered for copyright by Republic Pictures Corp. (LP7272; June 28, 1937). The renewal window for this film opened in 1964 and closed at the end of 1965. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. Furthermore, the film is listed as public domain in 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)', a standard reference for pre-1940 film copyrights. Because Republic Pictures failed to file a timely renewal, the work entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first term in 1965. As a US-produced work that entered the public domain via non-renewal, it is not eligible for restoration under the URAA, which only applies to foreign-originated works. The film is currently widely available through public domain distributors and archive services without opposition from the successor to Republic's library (Paramount/Melange).