Public Domain
The Royal Bed
1931 · RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. · Dir. Lowell Sherman
The hapless king of a small European nation must put up with a domineering queen, a daughter who wants to elope with her boyfriend, a peasant revolt and a scheming general.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The Royal Bed was published with notice and registered for US copyright on January 15, 1931, under registration number LP2015 by RKO Radio Pictures. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a proactive renewal filing with the Copyright Office during the 28th year of the initial term to extend protection to the full 95-year duration.
A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database, the University of Pennsylvania's Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) records, and the 'Film Superlist' (Baer/Hurst) reveals no renewal registration for this title. During the 1958-1959 renewal window, RKO was in the process of being dissolved and its library sold to General Tire/RKO Teleradio, leading to many administrative lapses in renewals. Because the copyright was not renewed, the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term in late 1958 or early 1959.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- U Penn online Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) - Renewals 1958-1959
- Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain 1894-1939 (Baer/Hurst)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (1931-1940)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.