Each entry contains information which describes the film and identifies the copyright claimant, the date of the beginning of the copyright term, and the copyright registration number. The descriptive portion of the entries varies considerably in fullness depending on the information available in the sources used.
The entries for unpublished works contain the date or dates of deposit in the Copyright Office of the title, description, and required prints. The entries for published works contain date of publication as given in the application for registration. Deposit of published copies has in every case been made.
In each entry the name of the claimant is that given in the application. Information relating to renewal copyrights or to subsequent changes of ownership recorded in the Copyright Office can be ascertained upon request and upon payment to the Register of Copyrights of the fee specified in the law for the conduct of a search of the records. In addition, information relating to renewal copyrights can be secured by referring to the issue of the Catalog of Copyright Entries covering renewal registrations for the particular class of work during the renewal period.
The publication of the Catalog of Copyright Entries is authorized by sections 210 and 211 of Title 17 of the United States Code. Section 210 provides in part: “The current catalog of copyright entries and the index volumes herein provided for shall be admitted in any court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein as regards any copyright registration.”
The purpose of the cumulative catalogs is threefold: 1) to meet the administrative needs of the Copyright Office; 2) to provide compact index volumes to the legal profession, publishers, authors, and others interested in copyright; and 3) to make available, for other research uses, the information on record in the Copyright Office, much of which is not available elsewhere.
A description (including price and instructions for ordering) of each part of the present Third Series of the Catalog of Copyright Entries and of other publications of the Copyright Office is provided at the back of this volume.
The Copyright Office welcomes inquiries, suggestions, and comments on the content and organization of the Catalog. Such communications should be addressed to the Chief of the Cataloging Division, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D. C.
Copyright Registrations of Motion Pictures
January 1, 1940–December 31, 1949
| Class L, Motion-picture photoplays | 7,122 |
| Class M, Motion pictures other than photoplays | 11,645 |
| Total | 18,767 |