A Waif's Welcome

A Waif's Welcome is a Rainbow Parade color cartoon produced by Van Beuren Studios and released through RKO Radio Pictures in 1936. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal of copyright in the 28th year of their term to avoid entering the public domain. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries reveals that while other Van Beuren and RKO properties were renewed, there is no record of a renewal for this specific title. Van Beuren Studios went out of business shortly after this release (closing in 1936), and much of its library was sold to Commonwealth Pictures and subsequently fell into the public domain due to administrative oversight during the renewal windows. The film is widely available on public domain cartoon compilations (such as those by Alpha Video) and archive.org, where it has remained without takedown for years, consistent with its status as a non-renewed work.