Ju jin yuki otoko

Ju jin yuki otoko (Half Human) was released in Japan by Toho in 1955. An edited American version, 'Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman', was released in the US in 1958 by Distributors Corporation of America (DCA). Under the 1909 Copyright Act, foreign works required a valid US copyright notice upon publication in the US or a US registration to secure protection. While the US version (1958) was registered and subsequently renewed (RE030438 in 1986 by Janus Films), the original Japanese 1955 version appears not to have been registered with the US Copyright Office at the time of its release. Because the film was produced in Japan, its US status is primarily governed by the URAA (1996) restoration. URAA restored US copyright to foreign works that were in the public domain in the US due to non-compliance with formalities (like notice or renewal) but were still under copyright in their source country on January 1, 1996. While the film is currently 'withdrawn' from circulation by Toho in Japan due to controversial depictions, it technically remains under Japanese copyright (70 years from publication/death). However, Toho famously did not file a 'Notice of Intent to Enforce' (NIE) with the US Copyright Office during the two-year URAA window (1996-1998) for many of its titles, and no NIE for this specific title is found in the online records. Without a specific NIE or a clear record of the 1955 original's US registration, its status as a restored work is legally complex, resulting in an 'uncertain' status for the original 1955 edit, even though the 1958 US edit remains protected. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.