Public Domain
Baby Face Morgan
1942 · Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) · Dir. Arthur Dreifuss
When crime boss Big Mike Morgan is killed, his lieutenant, "Doc" Rogers, learns that Morgan has a son named Edward living in the country with his mother. Rogers has naïve Edward brought to the city and installs him as the head of Acme Protective Agency. Good-hearted Eddy assumes his company provides insurance, rather than extortion-- But don't be too hard on the guy, he still doesn't know he's Baby Face Morgan, the most feared gangster in the city!
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Baby Face Morgan was released in 1942 and registered for copyright by Producers Releasing Corp. on September 15, 1942 (under registration number LP11585). Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of the first 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 filing for this title or registration number. Because the renewal window for a 1942 registration closed at the end of 1970 without a filing, the film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 1971. This is consistent with its presence in the Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain and its widespread availability via public domain distributors such as Alpha Video.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- U Penn Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
- Hurst, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1949)
- IMDb
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.