A Sleepless Night

The film 'A Sleepless Night' (1948) is a Columbia Pictures 'Color Favorites' animated short directed by Edward Bernds (often associated with the Fox and Crow or Li'l Abner series during this transitional period at Screen Gems/Columbia). Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first copyright 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 registration for this specific title or its underlying production (LP2025, registered December 16, 1948). While many Columbia shorts were renewed, this particular entry was overlooked or allowed to expire. Consequently, the work fell into the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term in 1976. This film is frequently cited in public domain animation databases and has been included in various 'PD' cartoon compilations by budget distributors such as Alpha Video, which further supports its status as having a lapsed copyright.