Quote:Note: Because director Romero has forgotten to put a copyright notice on the end titles of the movie's initial prints, Night of the Living Dead has lapsed into the public domain over the years. (Okay, the legalities are a bit more complicated than that, but the film's public domain status is a fait accompli.)

Quote:The film lapsed into public domain because of the neglect by the original theatrical distributor, the Walter Reade Organization, to put a proper copyright notice on the prints it distributed. At the time a proper notice was required to maintain copyright. Image Ten had intended to put such a statement on the title frames under the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, but Reade had removed the statement when it removed that title and replaced it with Night of the Living Dead. (That requirement was subsequently removed with the United States' Berne Convention Implementation Act and Copyright Term Extension Act, which together provided for automatic copyright on any work once it was put into a "fixed form," and automatic copyright term renewal on all copyrighted works).