Wicked Woman

Under the 1909 Copyright Act, works published between 1928 and 1963 required a renewal filing in the 28th year of their initial term to maintain protection. 'Wicked Woman' was originally registered for copyright by Edward L. Alperson Productions, Inc., on December 21, 1953 (LP3100). The statutory window for renewal would have been in 1980 or 1981. A search of the Stanford Copyright Renewal Database and the U.S. Copyright Office online catalog (which covers renewals filed from 1978 onward) shows no renewal record for this title or its registration number (LP3100). The Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (Volume 3, 1950-1959) also identifies this film as having failed to renew, officially entering the public domain at the end of 1981. Because the film was a domestic US production, it is not eligible for copyright restoration under the URAA/GATT amendments, which only apply to foreign works. The film has been widely distributed by public domain entities like Alpha Video and Sinister Cinema for decades without legal challenge from the original production entity or its distributor, United Artists.