Public Domain
Command Performance
1931 · Tiffany Productions · Dir. Walter Lang
Prince Alexis of Kordovia refuses to do his duty under threat of war. Recently arrested actor Peter Fedor conveniently bears a striking resemblance to the prince. The King and Queen hatch a plan to force the prince to do his duty.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Command Performance', starring Neil Hamilton and Una Merkel, was released on January 19, 1931, by Tiffany Productions. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, US works published between 1928 and 1963 required a copyright renewal filing during the 28th year of the original term to maintain protection. If not renewed, the work entered the public domain after the initial 28-year period.
Research of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) indicates that no renewal was ever filed for this motion picture. Tiffany Productions, the original production company, went bankrupt in 1932 and its assets were liquidated, which often led to the failure to renew copyrights for its library. According to 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)', this title was not renewed and is confirmed to be in the public domain. Consequently, the copyright expired in 1959.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- IMDb: Command Performance (1931)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.