#29
Post
by caab » Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:34 pm
I talked to Solomon about a month ago and he relayed this issue to me. I am a law student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and am currently taking a class on copyright, so I thought it would be a neat project to undertake to try to find this obscure copyright. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about copyright in the US, and rightly so, as the laws have been revised many times over the course of our nation's history and still contain many flaws. It strives to meet the world standard for copyright while clinging to old fixtures of copyright law, like registration.
This film is an especially interesting case, as it was governed by the 1909 Copyright Act. Today we are governed by the 1978 Copyright Act (with several subsequent additions/revisions), where any work, on creation, gives its "author" an automatic copyright in the work. Under the dual system of the 1909 act, creative works were governed by state copyright law until they were "published." In the case of a film, any public showing of the film was considered publishing for copyright purposes. After publication, a work would no longer be governed by state law, but would either 1) go into the public domain, or, 2) if prior to publication the author complied with the guidelines for registering a copyright with the US Copyright Office, then the author obtained a federal copyright and would thereafter be protected by federal law for a period of 28 years. The author had the option of renewing the copyright for another 28 years after the initial 28 year period was over. After the renewal period the work would then pass into the public domain. Doing the math under the 1909 act, assuming the film had a copyright and that the holder renewed the copyright, it should have passed into the public domain in 1995, but the 1978 act was retroactive, extending all existing copyrights for...I don't have my statute book in front of me, but for a number of years that would have extended the copyright well beyond 2006. Thus, it is possible that the film has a valid, existing copyright.
One of the essential requirements for copyright protection under the 1909 act was the posting of the copyright notice, with the © or the words “copyright,” the year of copyright, and the name of the copyright holder. What made me think the film “Keep Punching” was protected by a federal copyright was that notice was posted in the opening credits of the film, crediting M.C. Pictures, Inc. as the copyright holder.
If the film in question were protected by federal copyright, the composer would not hold the copyright to the song because it would most likely be considered a “work for hire,” with M.C. Pictures holding the copyright by virtue of this doctrine. Thus, in terms of copyright protection, the composer does not register and would not benefit from any exclusive rights.
All copyrights registered after 1978 are available on the U.S. Copyright Office web site, but all prior copyright records live in an extensive set of book volumes, grouping works by type and by year. After visiting these volumes at UNC’s Davis Library, in the nethermost basement of the nethermost section of dusty government documents, my search turned up no registered copyright for this film in the 1939 records. Normally one could stop the search there, but with the nature of this film and lack of information on the composer, production company, etc. and also the nature of copyright law at that time, I inquired about the film with a distribution company and with a copyright attorney who specializes in old films. They confirmed that this film was in the public domain.
Perhaps M.C. Pictures, Inc. intended to register for copyright, evidenced by compliance with the notice requirement, but for some reason it did not or its registration did not comply with the federal requirements. The film was “published” (I am assuming premiered) in Harlem on December 7, 1939, without being registered, and was then no longer protected by state copyright law and passed into the public domain.
I’m excited to have an answer to this puzzle and I hope it was OK to share it here…I thought if anyone would appreciate this information, you all would.
