Lord Edgware Dies

Lord Edgware Dies (released in the UK in 1934 and distributed in the US in 1935) was a British production based on the Agatha Christie novel. Under the copyright laws in effect at the time, foreign works required a valid US registration and a subsequent renewal within the 28th year of the initial term to maintain protection in the United States. While the film was registered for US copyright by the distributor RKO Radio Pictures on February 4, 1935 (Registration No. LP5293), a search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) shows no record of a renewal filing in the 1962–1963 window. Because the film was published and registered in the US prior to 1964, the failure to renew the copyright caused the work to enter the public domain in the US upon the expiration of its first term. Furthermore, as a UK production, it would typically be a candidate for URAA restoration (17 USC §104A) if it were still under copyright in its source country on January 1, 1996. However, under UK law at the time, film copyright lasted 50 years from publication/release (expiring in 1984). Since the work was in the public domain in its country of origin before the 1996 URAA date, its US copyright could not be restored. The film is widely cited in public domain catalogs and is available on various PD streaming platforms. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.