Pitfall

Pitfall (1948), directed by André De Toth and starring Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott, was originally registered for copyright by Regal Films, Inc. on August 11, 1948, under registration number LP1782. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to extend protection to a second term of 67 years. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and David Pierce's 'Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals 1950–1959' confirms that no renewal was filed for this film during its 28th year window (1975–1976). Because the copyright was not renewed, the work entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its initial 28-year term at the end of 1976. This status is widely documented in film preservation circles and the Film Superlist (Hurst/Baer).