Public Domain
Chinatown Nights
1929 · Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. · Dir. William A. Wellman
Joan Fry, a society woman, falls in love with Chuck Riley, the white-leader of a powerful gang in Chinatown, and he quickly drags her down into the depths with him. But seeing her so much in love with him causes him to realize he is in love with her, and he determines to lift her up again. "Boston" Charley, the rival gang-leader, has other plans.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Chinatown Nights was released in 1929 by Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first copyright term to maintain protection. If no renewal was filed, the work entered the public domain after 28 years.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) indicates that while the film was originally registered (LP216), no renewal record exists for this title. Major Paramount titles of this era were frequently renewed, but Chinatown Nights is consistently cited in reference works, such as David Pierce's 'Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals' and the 'Film Superlist' (Baer), as having failed to renew.
Because the 28-year term expired in 1957 without a renewal application being filed, the film's US copyright lapsed. It is currently widely available through public domain distributors and on the Internet Archive without challenge from the successor-in-interest to the Paramount library (Universal/EMKA).
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (checked for 'Chinatown Nights')
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939) by D. Richard Baer
- Catalog of Copyright Entries, Cumulative Series: Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1921-1930)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.