Desperate Cargo

Desperate Cargo was released in 1941 by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works published in the US between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing in the 28th year of their initial term to maintain copyright protection. Failure to renew resulted in the work entering the public domain. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the University of Pennsylvania Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. Furthermore, the film is cited in 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940-1949)' by D. Richard Baer as having failed to renew its copyright, confirming its status as public domain. This is common for films produced by 'Poverty Row' studios like PRC, which often neglected the administrative costs of maintaining their back catalogs. The film is currently widely available on public domain streaming sites and has been released by multiple budget home video labels (such as Alpha Video) that specialize in public domain content with no legal challenges from any successor-in-interest.