China Gate

Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their initial term to maintain protection. 'China Gate' was registered for copyright by Globe Enterprises on May 9, 1957, under registration number LP8451. To remain protected, a renewal application should have been filed in 1985. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the Penn Libraries Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) covering the mid-1980s, and the U.S. Copyright Office online records (which cover all renewals filed from 1978 onward) shows no renewal record for this title or registration number. The film's copyright was not renewed by its creator, Samuel Fuller, or the distributor, Twentieth Century-Fox. Consequently, the work entered the public domain on January 1, 1986. Secondary evidence supports this conclusion, as the film was notably excluded from major studio protection lists and has been released by various labels specializing in lapsed-copyright titles. The Film Superlist (Hurst) also confirms the absence of a renewal for this production.