M

Fritz Lang's 'M' was originally released in Germany in 1931. Under the copyright laws in effect at the time, foreign works required a valid U.S. copyright notice upon publication or registration in the U.S. to maintain protection. While the film entered the public domain in the United States in the late 1950s because the U.S. copyright was not renewed (Nero-Film AG did not file for renewal 28 years after its 1931 U.S. registration), its status was changed by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994. The URAA (codified at 17 U.S.C. § 104A) automatically restored U.S. copyright to foreign works that were still under copyright in their source country (Germany) on the 'restoration date' (January 1, 1996, for Germany) but had fallen into the public domain in the U.S. due to non-compliance with formalities like renewal. Since 'M' was still protected in Germany in 1996 (where copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the author; Fritz Lang died in 1976), its U.S. copyright was restored. The film is currently protected in the U.S. for a term of 95 years from its original 1931 publication date, meaning it will not enter the U.S. public domain until January 1, 2027. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.