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Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher poster
Public Domain

Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher

1943 · Monogram Pictures · Dir. James Tinling

Cosmo Jones, a correspondence-school detective from a small town, comes to the big city to offer his services to the police. He happens by where a gangster is killed by an opposing gang. Socialite Phyllis Blake is running around with gang member Tom and the opposing gang plan on kidnapping her. Cosmo is with Sergeant Flanagan when the attempt is made in front of a night club, where a bystander is seriously wounded in the gun-battle. Police Chief Murphy blames Flanagan for the shooting and demotes him. Cosmo, with the aid of a porter, Eustace and Flanagan's fiancée, Susan, tries to find the killer. Phyllis is finally kidnapped and Cosmo decides the act was committed by one of the two gangs. He has her father place an ad in the newspaper that contact has been made with the kidnappers. Each gang thinks the other is pulling a double cross, and one gang wipes out the other.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The film 'Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher' was released in the United States on March 26, 1943, by Monogram Pictures Corporation. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first copyright term to remain protected. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. The original copyright was registered under the title 'Cosmo Jones in Crime Smasher' (Registration No. LP11933, dated March 19, 1943) by Monogram Pictures Corp. The 28-year renewal window for this work would have occurred in 1970–1971. Because no renewal was filed, the copyright expired at the end of its first 28-year term, and the film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 1972. The film's presence in the 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain' (Hurst) and its widespread availability via public domain distributors like Alpha Video and the Internet Archive further confirm its status. There is no evidence of a copyright restoration under the URAA, as this is a domestic U.S. production.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
  • Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1912–1939 and 1940–1949
  • Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940–1949)
  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1941–1950)

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.