Chemical KOKO

The film 'Chemical KOKO' is part of the 'Screen Songs' series produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was originally registered for copyright on April 12, 1929, under registration number MP64. According to the U.S. Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing in the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection for a second term. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal filings for this specific title or the 'Screen Songs' entries from 1929. Most of the early Paramount-distributed Fleischer shorts fell into the public domain because the rights holder (Paramount or its successors) failed to renew the copyrights in the late 1950s. The film is widely circulated by public domain distributors and is included in the 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain' (Hurst) as a title for which no renewal record was found.