Shotgun Law
PUBLIC DOMAIN FYI
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The Other Woman poster
Public Domain

The Other Woman

1954 · Hugo Haas Productions · Dir. Hugo Haas

Bit player Sherry Stewart gets miffed when director Walter Darman turns her down after she reads for a small part in his picture. She and her boy friend, Ronnie, devise a plan to lure Darman to her apartment, where she gives him a drugged drink. She tells Darman they had been intimate and blackmails him for $50,000. More than a little distracted by his situation, his wife senses something is wrong and he gets into a violent argument with his father-in-law who owns the producing company Darman works for, and discontinues the picture. Sherry informs Darman she is going to tell his wife all about them. Darman tells his secretary that he is going to work late and is not to be disturbed, sets the moviola runnings, and exits by the back door and hot-foots it to Sherry's apartment.

Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —

Why this status applies

The film 'The Other Woman', directed by and starring Hugo Haas, was released in the United States in December 1954. It was originally registered for copyright by Hugo Haas Productions on December 2, 1954, with registration number LP4321. Under the laws governing works produced between 1928 and 1963, the copyright was required to be renewed with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of its first term to maintain protection. A thorough search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this title. If the copyright had been renewed, a record would have appeared in the 1981 or 1982 CCE volumes. Because the work was not renewed, it entered the public domain in the United States at the end of its initial 28-year term, which occurred on December 31, 1982. The film is widely recognized in public domain filmographies and is frequently distributed by companies specializing in non-copyrighted cinema, such as Alpha Video.
— Cited Sources —

Supporting facts

  • Stanford Copyright Renewal Database (checked 1981-1983)
  • Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures 1950-1959, Library of Congress (LP4321)
  • Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959) by D. Richard Baer
  • AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Other Woman (1954)

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