Public Domain
Salt of the Earth
1954 · Independent Productions Corp. · Dir. Herbert J. Biberman
At New Mexico's Empire Zinc mine, Mexican-American workers protest the unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts. Ramon Quintero helps organize the strike, but he is shown to be a hypocrite by treating his pregnant wife, Esperanza, with a similar unfairness. When an injunction stops the men from protesting, however, the gender roles are reversed, and women find themselves on the picket lines while the men stay at home.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
Salt of the Earth was registered for US copyright upon its release in 1954 under the registration number LP3834 (registered by Independent Productions Corp. on May 24, 1954). Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a formal renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during their 28th year of protection to extend their copyright term to 75 (later 95) years.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), and the Film Superlist (Hurst/Baer) indicates that no renewal was ever filed for this title. The 28-year window for renewal expired at the end of 1982. The film's failure to renew is well-documented in film history, as the production was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and the production company, Independent Productions Corp., was largely defunct by the time renewal would have been required.
Because the film was a domestic US production, it did not qualify for copyright restoration under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), which only applies to foreign works that were in the public domain in the US due to technicalities like non-renewal. Consequently, the film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 1983.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (No record for LP3834)
- CCE Motion Pictures 1950-1959 (Entry for LP3834, May 24, 1954)
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959 volume)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Salt of the Earth (1954)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.