Curse of the Faceless Man

Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of the first term to maintain protection. 'Curse of the Faceless Man' was registered by Vogue Pictures, Inc. on August 13, 1958, under registration number LP11894. To remain protected, a renewal should have been filed in 1985 or 1986. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress CCE records shows no renewal for this title or registration number. The film is listed in 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959)' by David Pierce as a work that entered the public domain due to non-renewal. Consequently, the original black-and-white film is in the public domain in the United States. Regarding the 'colorized' aspect mentioned by the user: while the original film is public domain, a specific colorized version created later (e.g., by a company like Legend Films) may be protected as a derivative work under its own separate registration. However, the underlying cinematography, script, and performances from 1958 are free for use.