Is this movie public domain or not?

[emory]

I'm of course referring to the final riff of the movie, and the fact that many Rifftrax VODs are public domain, but I can't seem to find evidence that this one is no longer protected.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Looking at all the companies that have released it on home video it's either in the public domain or the rights are very, very cheap.

[emory]

It certainly does have many-a-home video release. I'm leaning towards cheap rights because the movie was published in 1978, 2 years after the copyright act was passed and changed the rules as to what defaults into the public domain. There's also a copyright entry in the US database: http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=8&ti=1,8&Search_Arg=Planet%20of%20Dinosaurs&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=25&PID=TVUtwkkWxwdygtERCWxs6j-ifa6&SEQ=20100821103917&SID=1 . Since I'm no copyright lawyer, I don't know if either of these constitutes PD status, or if the owner of the movie willingly donated it to the public domain.

[doctorhu]

It certainly does have many-a-home video release. I'm leaning towards cheap rights because the movie was published in 1978, 2 years after the copyright act was passed and changed the rules as to what defaults into the public domain. There's also a copyright entry in the US database: http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=8&ti=1,8&Search_Arg=Planet%20of%20Dinosaurs&Search_Code=TALL&CNT=25&PID=TVUtwkkWxwdygtERCWxs6j-ifa6&SEQ=20100821103917&SID=1 . Since I'm no copyright lawyer, I don't know if either of these constitutes PD status, or if the owner of the movie willingly donated it to the public domain.

Lean the other way. Every place I find it shows it as public domain, not cheap rights.

I believe it fell into the loophole of being improperly registered or of having improperly composed/missing copyright notifications (which is what happened to Night of the Living Dead), but I'd have to do more research to be sure. It's available from every major public domain clearinghouse, and the effects footage has been reused by many a B-movie studio since. If you ever want to see some real pain, pick up a copy of Galaxy of the Dinosaurs, a Lance Randas film. Featuring one of the greatest spaceship bridge sequences to ever be filmed in someone's mother's basement. All of their dinosaur scenes are re-used Planet sequences.