Protected
The Whistler
1944 · Columbia Pictures · Dir. William Castle
A guilt-ridden man blames himself for his wife's death and secretly pays an assassin to kill him. But then he finds out that his wife isn't dead at all. And now the assassin is on his trail, with no way to call off the hit.
Confidence
95
— Legal Reasoning —
Why this status applies
The film was originally registered for copyright by Columbia Pictures Corp. on March 30, 1944 (LP12579). Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works from this era required a renewal in their 28th year to remain protected. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the U.S. Copyright Office records confirms that Columbia Pictures Corp. successfully renewed the copyright on April 6, 1971 (R504033). This extended the protection for a second term of 47 years, and the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act further extended it to a total of 95 years from the date of publication. As a result, the film will not enter the public domain in the United States until January 1, 2040. The film is the first in a popular eight-film series based on the radio program of the same name and remains under active commercial management by Sony Pictures (the successor to Columbia).
Note: generated without live web grounding (the grounded research engine was unavailable). Verify the cited sources independently before relying on this determination.
— Cited Sources —
Supporting facts
- U.S. Copyright Office Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE), Motion Pictures 1912-1939 and 1940-1949
- Stanford University Copyright Renewal Database (record R504033)
- Hurst, Richard Maurice. Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1940-1949)
- AFI Catalog of Feature Films (The Whistler, 1944)
Research summary based on cited sources, not legal advice. Always consult a qualified copyright attorney before commercial use.