The Snows of Kilimanjaro

The Snows of Kilimanjaro, a major studio production starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward, was first registered for copyright by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. on September 17, 1952 (LP2165). Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works from this era required a renewal registration within the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection. Had it been renewed, the second term would have secured protection until 95 years after the publication date. 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. While Fox was diligent in renewing many of its films (such as 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' from 1951), this specific title was famously neglected. Unlike 'It's a Wonderful Life,' which regained some protection via underlying music and story rights, 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' has been widely circulated by public domain distributors such as Alpha Video and is consistently cited in reference works, including David Pierce's 'Motion Picture Copyrights and Renewals' and Hurst's 'Film Superlist,' as having entered the public domain due to non-renewal.