Attack of the Giant Leeches

Attack of the Giant Leeches was released in 1959 and registered for copyright by Balboa Productions, Inc. (LP15296; October 28, 1959). Under the US Copyright Act of 1909, works from 1959 required a renewal filing with the Copyright Office during the 28th year of the first term to extend protection for a second term. For this film, the renewal window occurred in 1987. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the U Penn Online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and the Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950–1959) by David Pierce indicates that no renewal was ever filed. Because the copyright was not renewed within the statutory timeframe, the work entered the public domain on January 1, 1988. The film's public domain status is well-documented and widely recognized in the industry. It is frequently included in public domain film collections (such as those from Alpha Video and Mill Creek Entertainment) and is hosted on the Internet Archive without restriction. While a 2008 remake exists, the original 1959 production is legally free of copyright in the United States.