Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
Fetch!
The Dawn Express poster
Public Domain

The Dawn Express

1942 · Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) · Dir. Albert Herman

A Nazi spy ring is after a chemical formula that increases the power of ordinary gasoline for U.S. Army aviation use. Two U.S. chemical companies are developing the formula, with each working on half for security purposes. The spies get half the formula and know that either of two chemists, Robert Norton or Tom Fielding, knows the rest. They capture Fielding, through a ruse by gang member Linda Pavlo, and threaten the life of his sister Nancy and his mother if he does not give them the formula. To protect his friend Fielding, who does know the formula and is engaged to Nancy, Tom pretends to know the secret and boards the Dawn Express plane with the spy leader and his gang.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The Dawn Express (also known as Nazi Spy Ring) was a US production released in early 1942 by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). Under the copyright laws applicable to works published between 1928 and 1963, a 28-year initial term of protection was provided, which required a formal renewal with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year to extend protection to a second term. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no record of a copyright renewal for this film. Most PRC titles from this era fell into the public domain because the studio and its successors failed to maintain the registrations. As a result of the non-renewal, the film's US copyright expired at the end of its first 28-year term in 1970. The film is widely recognized as public domain by film historians and is frequently included in public domain collections and archives such as the Internet Archive.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
  • Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
  • Hurst, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940-1949)
  • IMDb: The Dawn Express (1942)
  • Internet Archive: The Dawn Express

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