Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
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Speedway poster
Protected

Speedway

1929 · Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) · Dir. Harry Beaumont

Bill Whipple is a happy-go-lucky mechanic for MacDonald who thinks that he is the worlds greatest driver and lover. Mac has treated Bill like a son since he took him in. One day at the track, Bill sees Pat Bannon, and tries his best to impress her, but to no avail. On his way to catch a flight, he tricks Pat into taking him to the airport and she gets even by taking him up in a plane. He hates to fly, but will not show her that he is afraid and when the plane breaks up, he is a hero for rescuing her. This gets him publicity and Renny offers him his car to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Bill breaks with Mac to drive the car and puts it on the pole for the race. Then Renny double crosses Bill and plans to drive the car himself since Bill has tuned it so well.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

Speedway (1929), starring William Haines and Anita Page, was originally registered for copyright by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. on September 3, 1929, under registration number LP663. For a film released in 1929 to remain under copyright in the United States, a renewal must have been filed with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of its first term. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) confirms that the film's copyright was successfully renewed. The renewal was filed on March 26, 1957, by Loew's Inc. (the parent company of MGM at the time) under renewal number R188812. Because the copyright was properly renewed, the work was granted a total term of 95 years from its publication date under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. The copyright is currently held by Warner Bros. (via Turner Entertainment), which acquired the pre-1986 MGM library. The copyright is set to expire on January 1, 2025. 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 (R188812)
  • Catalog of Copyright Entries, Motion Pictures 1912-1939 (LP663)
  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films (Speedway, 1929)
  • Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (Volume 1, 1894-1939)

Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.