Public Domain
Rain
1932 · United Artists / Feature Productions · Dir. Lewis Milestone
Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pago, a small village on a Pacific island where it incessantly rains. Among the stranded passengers are Sadie Thompson, a prostitute, and Alfred Davidson, a fanatic missionary who will try to redeem her.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film 'Rain' was originally registered for copyright on October 18, 1932 (LP3326) by Feature Productions, Inc., and released through United Artists. Under the US Copyright Act of 1909, works from 1932 required a renewal filing with the Copyright Office during the 28th year of the first term to extend protection for a second term. For this film, the renewal window was open between October 1959 and October 1960.
Searches of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the U Penn Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and the Film Superlist (Hurst) confirm that no renewal was filed for this motion picture. The film failed to enter its second term of copyright and consequently fell into the public domain in the United States in 1960. It is a well-documented example of a high-profile sound-era film in the public domain, widely available in bargain-bin releases and public archives without licensing from the original production entity.
Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (no renewal found for LP3326)
- Hurst, Richard Maurice. Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1894-1939)
- U Penn Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) Motion Pictures 1912-1939
- IMDb: Rain (1932) Trivia/Rights
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.