Public Domain
Dancing Pirate
1936 · Pioneer Pictures · Dir. Lloyd Corrigan
Jonathan Pride is a mild-mannered dance instructor in 1820 Boston. En route to visit relatives, Jonathan is shanghaied by a band of zany pirates and forced to work as a galley boy. When the pirate vessel arrives at the port of Las Palomas, Jonathan, clad in buccaneer's garb, makes his escape. Everyone in Las Palomas, including Governor Alcalde (Frank Morgan) and fetching senorita Serafina (Steffi Duna), assumes that Jonathan is the pirate chieftain, leading to a series of typical comic-opera complications.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Dancing Pirate was released on May 22, 1936, and was registered for copyright by Pioneer Pictures, Inc. under registration number LP6370. This film was produced in the three-strip Technicolor process and distributed through RKO Radio Pictures. Under the 1909 Copyright Act, the initial term of copyright lasted 28 years, requiring a renewal filing in the 28th year to extend protection.
Searches of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) show no renewal record for this title. The copyright would have needed to be renewed in 1963 or 1964; however, the records confirm the registration was allowed to expire. This expiration is well-documented in secondary film scholarship, including Hurst's 'Film Superlist,' which lists the film as being in the public domain. Because it fell into the public domain prior to the 1976 Act and was a US production, it is not eligible for copyright restoration.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- U Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1928-1939)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.