The Thief

The film was released in 1952 and registered for copyright by Fran Productions, Inc., on September 25, 1952, under registration number LP1925. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works registered between 1928 and 1963 required a manual renewal filing with the US Copyright Office during the 28th year of their first term to maintain protection for a second term. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal record for this title or registration number. For a 1952 registration, the renewal window would have been in 1979 or 1980. Because the copyright was not renewed, the film entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its initial 28-year term at the end of 1980. The film's presence on numerous public domain specialized labels (such as Alpha Video and various '50-movie pack' budget collections) further corroborates its public domain status.