An Old-Fashioned Girl

The film 'An Old-Fashioned Girl', based on the Louisa May Alcott novel, was released in the United States on January 14, 1949. It was registered for copyright by Equity Pictures Corp. under registration number LP2204, with the copyright date listed as January 14, 1949. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the U. Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and David Pierce's 'Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals 1950–1959' reveals no renewal record for this title or registration number. The copyright would have needed to be renewed in late 1976 or 1977. Because no renewal was filed, the film entered the public domain at the expiration of its initial 28-year term on December 31, 1977. Furthermore, the film is widely recognized as public domain by film historians and is frequently cited in lists of public domain motion pictures, such as the Hurst/Baer 'Film Superlist'. It is currently distributed by several public domain specialty labels, including Alpha Video, confirming its status.