A Life at Stake

The film was released in late 1954 (often associated with 1955 distribution) and was registered for copyright by Filmakers Productions, Inc. on December 21, 1954, under registration number LP4342. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works from this era required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their initial term to maintain protection. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal record for this title or registration number. The renewal window for a 1954 registration would have been in 1982. Because the copyright was not renewed, the film's legal protection in the United States expired, and it entered the public domain at the start of 1983. The film's public domain status is further corroborated by its inclusion in numerous 'public domain' DVD collections from distributors like Alpha Video and its frequent appearance on the Internet Archive and other royalty-free platforms without copyright claims from the original production entity.