Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
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Guest Wife poster
Public Domain

Guest Wife

1945 · Greentree Productions / United Artists · Dir. Sam Wood

Christopher Price, a small-town bank executive, continues to be loyal to and idolize his boyhood friend, Joseph Jefferson Parker, a famous war correspondent. But Chris's wife, Mary, is none to fond of Joe and tired of her husband's idolizing. On the eve of the Price's second-honeymoon trip to New York City, Joe arrives and tells Chris that he needs someone to pose as his wife in order to fool his boss in NYC, who thinks Joe got married to an overseas woman while on an assignment. Chris pushes Mary into posing as Joe's wife. In New York, this leads to many complications and misunderstandings, with Mary finally deciding to teach Chris and Joe a lesson by making them believe she is in love with Joe.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

Guest Wife (1945) entered the public domain in the United States because its copyright was not renewed as required by the Copyright Act of 1909. The film was originally registered for copyright on July 27, 1945, under registration number LP13410 by Greentree Productions. Under the laws governing works from the 1928–1963 window, a renewal application had to be filed with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of the first term to extend protection for a second term. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the U. Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and David Pierce's 'Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals 1950–1959' (and 1940-1949 supplements) confirms that no renewal was filed for this title by Greentree Productions or its distributor, United Artists. The film became public domain on January 1, 1974. Because it fell into the public domain in 1974, it did not qualify for the automatic renewal provisions and extensions granted by the 1976 and 1992 Copyright Acts. The film's public domain status is widely recognized in the industry; it has been released by numerous public domain distributors including Alpha Video and is available on the Internet Archive without restriction. No subsequent 'restoration' of copyright is possible for a domestic US work that failed to renew.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • U.S. Copyright Office Catalog of Copyright Entries, Motion Pictures 1912-1939 and 1940-1949
  • Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database
  • David Pierce, Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals 1950–1959
  • Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (Hurst/Baer)

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.