1940s films — US copyright status
Evidence-backed US copyright status for 3 researched films from the 1940s — each with primary-source citations and layer-by-layer verdicts. This is a research list, not a public-domain list: “Clear” means the film print is public domain in the US, “Unclear” means researched-but-not-yet-evidenced, “Active rights” means protected. Always check the music and story layers before reuse.