Public Domain
House by the River
1950 · Fidelity Pictures · Dir. Fritz Lang
Wealthy writer Stephen Byrne tries to seduce the family maid, but when she resists, he kills her. Long jealous of his brother John, Stephen does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Stephen's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Marjorie.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
House by the River was released in 1950 and was originally registered for US copyright by Fidelity Pictures, Inc., on March 24, 1950 (LP2960). Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during their 28th year of protection to extend copyright into a second term.
Comprehensive searches of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) confirm that no renewal was filed for this motion picture in 1977 or 1978. While Republic Pictures distributed the film, the copyright was held by the independent Fidelity Pictures, which failed to maintain the registration. Because the renewal was not filed within the statutory window, the film's US copyright expired and it entered the public domain in 1979. It is widely documented as public domain in legal literature and filmographies such as Film Superlist (Hurst).
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries, 3rd Series, vol 4, pts 12-13 (1950) p. 19
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (no record found for LP2960)
- Hurst, Walter E. 'Film Superlist: 20,000 Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959)'
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: House by the River (1950)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.