Chinatown at Midnight

Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published in the US between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. Chinatown at Midnight was originally registered for copyright on October 25, 1949 (LP2605) by Columbia Pictures Corp. A thorough search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. For a 1949 publication, the renewal window occurred in 1976 or 1977. While Columbia Pictures renewed the vast majority of its library from this era, this specific title was omitted, likely due to its status as a lower-budget 'B' movie. Because the copyright was not renewed, the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term on December 31, 1977. The film is widely listed in public domain catalogs such as the Film Superlist (Hurst) and is frequently distributed by public domain specialist labels.