The Worm Eaters

The Worm Eaters (directed by Herb Robins) was released in the United States in late 1977. Under the Copyright Act of 1909 and the 1976 revision, works published between 1964 and 1977 were granted automatic renewal by the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992. Therefore, unlike films from the 1928–1963 era, a lack of a renewal filing does not place this work in the public domain. The film's status depends on whether it was published with a valid copyright notice. While no original registration for 1977 appears in the modern online CO Catalog, the film has been subject to consistent commercial exploitation and licensing by established entities. It was released on DVD by Rhino Video and later featured prominently on the 'Elvira's Movie Macabre' series, which involves legal clearances. Most notably, the film is currently distributed and licensed by Shout! Factory (under their Scream Factory sub-label), a distributor known for acquiring legitimate rights from surviving holders (often the original producers or their estates). Because the film is from the automatic-renewal era and remains under active, high-profile commercial licensing by reputable distributors, it is treated as protected. The absence of a registration number in the post-1978 online database is likely due to the original 1977 filing remaining in the physical card catalogs or the work being protected via the 1992 automatic renewal provision for works in their first term at that time.