Concerto in B Flat Minor

Concerto in B Flat Minor (1942) is a 'Soundie' musical short produced by the Soundies Distributing Corp. of America, featuring Freddy Martin and his Orchestra with Jack Fina on piano. 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 initial term to remain protected. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals that while the film was originally registered (likely under the registration number M12297 on April 20, 1942), no renewal was filed in 1969 or 1970. The Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894–1939 and later volumes covering the 1940s) also identifies the vast majority of Soundies as having entered the public domain due to non-renewal by the successor in interest (often Mills Music or RCM Productions). Because the copyright was not renewed as required by 17 U.S.C. § 304, the work entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term on December 31, 1970.