I Passed for White

The film was originally released by Allied Artists in 1960. Under the US Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their initial term to remain protected. For a 1960 release, this renewal window was in 1987-1988. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the U Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and the Film Superlist (Baer) confirms that no renewal was filed for this title. While the film was originally registered (LP16260, March 18, 1960), the failure to renew at the end of the first term resulted in the work entering the public domain on January 1, 1989. The film is widely cited in public domain catalogs and is available on various public domain streaming archives without legal challenge from a successor-in-interest to Allied Artists. Because it was a US production, it is not eligible for copyright restoration under the URAA.