Public Domain
Falling Hare
1943 · Warner Bros. Pictures · Dir. Robert Clampett
Relaxing with a carrot at a U.S. Army air field, Bugs is reading "Victory Through Hare Power" and scoffs at the notion of mentioned gremlins, little creatures who wreak havoc on planes with their diabolical sabotage.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Falling Hare was a Merrie Melodies cartoon released by Warner Bros. on October 30, 1943. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works from this era required a copyright renewal during the 28th year of their initial term to remain protected for a second term. For a 1943 release, the renewal window was open in 1970–1971.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals that Warner Bros. failed to renew the copyright for this specific Bugs Bunny short. While the majority of the Warner Bros. library was successfully renewed, Falling Hare is one of the notable exceptions that entered the public domain due to non-renewal. This status is widely documented in film reference works, including the Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894–1959).
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- U Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (Hurst/Baer)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Internet Archive - Falling Hare (Public Domain Archive)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.