Public Domain
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
1947 · California Pictures · Dir. Preston Sturges
Twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock, who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. Wagglebury, with nothing but a tiny pension. Harold, who never touches the stuff, takes a stiff drink with his new pal... and another, and another. What happened Wednesday?
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film was released in 1947 by Howard Hughes' California Pictures and distributed by United Artists. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first copyright term to remain protected. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for the film's original 1947 title.
While the film was re-edited and re-released in 1950 under the title 'Mad Wednesday' by RKO Radio Pictures, that version's copyright status (registered LP2975) also lapsed when it was not renewed by 1978. Because the original 1947 source material was not renewed, the film fell into the public domain in 1975. The film's presence in the public domain is widely documented in film reference works like the 'Film Superlist' and its frequent distribution by PD labels such as Alpha Video and Mill Creek.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- Stanford Copyright Renewal Database
- Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE)
- Hurst / D. Richard Baer, Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (The Sin of Harold Diddlebock / Mad Wednesday)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.