The copyright year in Roman numerals was mismarked as MCLXIV (1164) instead of the correct MCMLXIV (1964). This invalidates the copyright under U.S. law at the time, which required a valid date of copyright to be affixed to the production; this means that still images from the special and all of the characters unique to the special are, as a result, in the public domain. However, because the original story and song are still copyrighted and the soundtrack was validly copyrighted separately, for all practical purposes, permission is still required to air the special.
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This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1929 and 1977, inclusive, with a defective copyright notice (copyright notice information) containing at least one of the following defects:
Notice is dated more than one year later than the actual date of first publication;
Notice does not include a named claimant or does not name the actual copyright holder;
Notice is illegible or concealed from view;
It is a printed literary, musical, or dramatic work that does not include the year.
A defective notice does not invalidate copyright in cases where the error is immaterial and would not mislead an infringer, such as an abbreviated name. Additionally, foreign works created outside the US are subject to copyright restoration even with a defective notice. It is not in the public domain in the countries or areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, and other countries with individual treaties.
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Image #: 904522 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," the longest-running holiday special in television history, celebrates its 40th anniversary broadcast on Wednesday, December 1, 2004. CBS /Landov