Master of Horror

The film (originally 'Obras maestras del terror' released in Argentina in 1960) was edited and dubbed for US television release by American International Pictures (AIP) in 1965. Under the copyright rules for foreign films, its US status depends on the URAA restoration of 1996. While Argentina is a Berne member, URAA restoration only applies if the film was still protected in its source country on January 1, 1996. A thorough search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the CCE via U Penn finds no evidence of a US copyright registration or renewal for the English-language version 'Master of Horror'. Because the film was distributed in the US by AIP (a company known for failing to secure formal copyright notice on many imported titles), and because the original foreign registration status in 1996 is difficult to verify without Argentinian records, the status is technically uncertain. However, it is frequently treated as public domain by gray-market distributors such as Alpha Video and Sinister Cinema. The film is classified as an orphan work because the original US distributor (AIP) and its immediate successor (Orion) have no active records of managing this title, and it has fallen out of commercial circulation for several decades with no identifiable modern rightsholder or professional restoration. Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.