F for Fake

F for Fake (Vérités et mensonges) was first released in France in 1973. Although it is a foreign production, it entered the U.S. market via Specialty Films in 1975. Under the copyright laws of the time, foreign works published without a proper U.S. copyright notice could potentially enter the public domain in the U.S. However, the film's U.S. copyright status was restored (if it ever lapsed) by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) on January 1, 1996. The URAA restores U.S. copyright to foreign works that were still under copyright in their source country on the restoration date but had fallen into the U.S. public domain due to non-compliance with formalities like notice or renewal. As a French production under the authorial rights of Orson Welles and others, it remained protected in France in 1996. Furthermore, the film is actively managed and licensed by Janus Films and The Criterion Collection, who maintain the U.S. rights. A search of the U.S. Copyright Office records shows a registration for the English version (RE0000839089 / 2001-11-05, reflecting the 1975 U.S. publication), solidifying its protected status.