Back Door to Heaven

Back Door to Heaven was released in 1939 and was originally registered for copyright by Paramount Pictures on April 21, 1939 (LP8788). To remain under copyright protection in the United States, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal registration with the US Copyright Office during their 28th year of protection. A thorough search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal filing for this title. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, the failure to renew the copyright in the 28th year caused the work to fall into the public domain upon the expiration of the first term. Consequently, the film entered the public domain on January 1, 1968. The film's public domain status is supported by its inclusion in several public domain film catalogs and its presence on the Internet Archive without takedown notices. It is frequently cited in lists of films where the major studio (Paramount) allowed the copyright to lapse.