Danger!! Death Ray

The film was originally released in Italy in 1967 as 'Il raggio infernale' and subsequently distributed in the United States by United Artists Television in 1967. Under the laws governing this era (1964–1977), foreign works required a valid U.S. copyright notice upon publication/distribution in the U.S. to secure protection. Research into the U.S. Copyright Office records and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) fails to show a registration for this title under its English name at the time of its U.S. release. While foreign works from this period can be restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) if they were still under copyright in their source country on January 1, 1996, this film has been widely documented as having fallen into the public domain in the U.S. due to lack of compliance with notice requirements and a failure to file a Notice of Intent to Enforce (NIE) restored copyrights. It is frequently cited in public domain film databases (such as the 'Film Superlist') and has been widely circulated by public domain distributors for decades, including its famous inclusion in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Episode 620), a series known for utilizing public domain or easily licensable low-cost titles during its mid-90s run. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.