The Fast and the Furious

The Fast and the Furious was released in 1954 and produced by Roger Corman's Palo Alto Productions for the American Releasing Corporation (which later became American International Pictures). Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. If not renewed, the work entered the public domain. Research of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries confirms that no renewal was filed for this motion picture. While the film was originally registered (LP4371, registered on January 12, 1955), the renewal would have been due in 1982 or 1983. Because no such renewal exists in the records, the film's US copyright expired. This film is a well-known example of a public domain title, often appearing in '50-movie pack' bargain DVDs and on the Internet Archive without challenge. Note that while the 1954 film is in the public domain, the title was famously licensed by Universal Pictures for their 2001 film of the same name; however, this licensing was for the use of the title only and did not restore copyright to the original 1954 cinematic work.