Two Weeks to Live

The film 'Two Weeks to Live', starring the Lum and Abner duo, was released in early 1943. Under the Copyright Act of 1909, works published in the United States between 1928 and 1963 required a copyright renewal filing with the U.S. Copyright Office during the 28th year of their initial term to maintain protection. For a 1943 release, the renewal window would have been in 1970 or 1971. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the Library of Congress Catalog of Copyright Entries (CCE) reveals no renewal registration for this motion picture. While many RKO-distributed films were renewed by successor entities, this specific production (produced by Jack Votion's independent outfit for RKO release) was allowed to lapse. The film is widely recognized as being in the public domain by film historians and legal researchers. It appears in the 'Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain' (Hurst/Baer) and is frequently included in public domain collections and on archives like the Internet Archive without challenge from any rights holders. Because it was not renewed, it entered the public domain in the United States upon the expiration of its first 28-year term.