Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
Fetch!
Cowboy from Sundown poster
Public Domain

Cowboy from Sundown

1940 · Monogram Pictures · Dir. Spencer Gordon Bennet

The drought-plagued ranchers of Sundown have to market their cattle at a loss in order to meet mortgage payments held by banker Cylus Cuttler. Then, Sheriff Tex Rockett is forced to quarantine all the cattle on the local ranches because of a hoof-and-mouth disease outbreak. Steve Davis herds his cattle to the railhead anyway, and Tex is forced to arrest him. Urged on by the banker's son, Nick Cuttler, the angry ranchers storm the jail, but Steve's sister Bee persuades them to await the trial. Steve, with Nick's help, breaks jail and is told he must kill Tex to aid the ranchers. Meanwhile, government man Bret Stockton and Tex see Nick and his men treating cattle in an unusual way. Tex finally proves that the Cuttlers have been treating the cattle with acid to give a false impression of the hoof-and-mouth disease.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

Cowboy from Sundown was released by Monogram Pictures on May 9, 1940. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published before 1964 required a renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their initial term to maintain protection for a second 28-year term. Research of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. According to 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894–1939)' and its subsequent volume for the 1940s by D. Richard Baer, this film entered the public domain when its original copyright expired in 1968 without renewal. Because the film was not renewed, it did not benefit from the term extensions provided by the 1976 Act or the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
  • Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
  • Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (D. Richard Baer)
  • IMDb: Cowboy from Sundown (1940)

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