The Child Molester

The Child Molester is a 1964 educational/social guidance film produced by the Highway Safety Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Mansfield, Ohio, known for producing visceral safety films like 'Signal 30'. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1964 and 1977 do not require a renewal filing; however, they still required the inclusion of a valid copyright notice on all publicly distributed copies at the time of publication to secure federal protection. Evaluation of surviving prints and archival copies (such as those hosted by the Prelinger Archives and the Internet Archive) reveals that the film was distributed without a formal copyright notice. Furthermore, a search of the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) and the online Copyright Office records shows no registration for this specific title by the Highway Safety Foundation or its principal, Richard Wayman. The film has been widely circulated by public domain distributors (such as Something Weird Video and Alpha Video) for decades without legal challenge. Given the lack of both registration and notice at the time of its 1964 release, the film failed to secure US copyright protection and entered the public domain upon publication.