Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
Fetch!
The Clay Pigeon poster
Protected

The Clay Pigeon

1949 · RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. · Dir. Richard Fleischer

Jim Fletcher, waking up from a coma, finds he is to be given a court martial for treason and charged with informing on fellow inmates in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Escaping from the hospital he tries to clear himself by enlisting the aid of Martha Gregory, widow of a service buddy he was accused of informing on. Helped also by Ted Niles, a surviving fellow prisoner, he gets closer to finding the answers he needs, and becomes ensnared in a grandiose scheme involving his Japanese ex-prison guard, $10,000,000 of US currency forged by the Japanese and a burgeoning crime network poised to wreak havoc throughout southern California.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The film was originally registered for copyright by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. on March 1, 1949, under registration number LP2131. As a U.S. production released between 1928 and 1963, the copyright required a renewal within the 28-year initial term to remain protected. Research indicates that the copyright was successfully renewed by RKO General, Inc. on March 15, 1976 (the start of the 28th year), under renewal number R628659. The renewal was timely and followed the requirements of the 1909 Copyright Act. Under the Copyright Act of 1976 and subsequent extensions, this renewal grants the film a total protection period of 95 years from the original publication date. The film is currently held by Warner Bros. (via Turner Entertainment), which acquired the RKO library, and it will not enter the public domain until January 1, 2045.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • U.S. Copyright Office Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), Motion Pictures 1940-1949, Registration LP2131
  • Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database, Record R628659
  • Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1940-1949 (Baer/Hurst)
  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1941-1950)

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