Public Domain
C-Man
1949 · Laurel Films / Film Classics · Dir. Joseph Lerner
A customs agent follows a jewel smuggler's trail of corpses from Paris to New York.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'C-Man' was released in May 1949 and was registered for copyright by Laurel Films, Inc. on June 1, 1949, under registration number LP2350. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their 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 records for this title. For a 1949 registration, the renewal window would have been in 1976 or 1977. Because the copyright was not renewed, the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its initial 28-year term on June 1, 1977. The film is widely available in public domain collections and on platforms like the Internet Archive and Alpha Video without any evidence of rights enforcement.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) 1949, Motion Pictures, Vol 3, Pts 12-13, p. 55
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (no records found)
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940-1949)
- IMDb (Release Date: May 16, 1949)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.