Knives of the Avenger (I coltelli del vendicatore)

This film is an Italian production directed by Mario Bava. It was released in Italy in 1966 and subsequently distributed in the United States in the late 1960s. Under the framework for foreign films released between 1964 and 1977, US copyright protection depends on several factors: the presence of a valid US copyright notice upon distribution and the impact of the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA). No US copyright registration was found in the Library of Congress or Stanford renewal databases for this title under its English or Italian names. While foreign films from this era are often 'restored' to copyright under the URAA if they were still protected in their home country on January 1, 1996, the US status remains technically 'uncertain' without primary evidence of a US registration or a formal copyright notice calculation. The film has been widely circulated by various low-budget and public domain-leaning distributors (such as Sinister Cinema and specialized B-movie labels), which often suggests a lack of a clear, enforced US copyright. However, because it was protected in Italy at the time of the URAA, it may have legally regained US protection, though this is rarely litigated for such titles.