This is a fascinating thread, guys!
On my "list of things to do" is to write an article about Hitchcock, copyright, and "Public Domain" (partly because I'm fed up of explaining why his films aren't PD to people on Wikipedia!). I'm certainly not a copyright lawyer, so the following is based on research and I'd warmly welcome any corrections!...
As Mr Harris says, Hitchcock's films used to be in the Public Domain in the USA.
This is something I need to double-check, but I believe at the time Hitch made his British films, UK copyright existed for 50 years after the year a film was first distributed, so during the mid 1970s, his films would have started to enter the Public Domain in the UK too.
In the early 1990s, the UK made amendments to it's Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in order to harmonise UK copyright with other European Union countries. As part of this, the legislation for UK copyright on films was changed so that it became 70 years after the death of the last principle creator (director, writer, composer, etc). Crucially, this was applied retrospectively. Therefore, any Hitchcock films that had become PD in the UK are now back under copyright until at least 2050 (being 70 years after Hitch's death in 1980). In fact, several of his British films should be copyrighted until 2065, as the screenwriter Charles Bennett lived to a ripe old age and died in 1995.
The USA had long refused to adopt the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (which effectively says if a work is copyrighted in one country, then it should be under copyright in all countries that have adopted Berne). The US came under increasing pressure to adopt Berne and President Clinton finally signed up on March 1, 1989. This was a major change for US copyright, as it no longer requires you to register for copyright.
As so many non-US works were previously deemed to be Public Domain in the US (e.g. all those VHS releases of Hitchcock films in the 1980s), the US Copyright Office embarked on a lengthy process of allowing non-US copyright holders to re-assert their rights in the US. The two UK companies that owned the copyright on the majority of Hitchcock's British films subsequently filed their "Notice of Intent to Enforce" with the US Copyright Office and the details can be found in the NIE's listed here (most are listed in the Aug 22nd file):
U.S. Copyright Office - Notices of Restored Copyrights
At the time, these two companies were UGC UK and Carlton Film Distributors, Ltd. Through various mergers and acquisitions, these companies are now known as Canal Plus UK and Granada International respectively.
Neither company has so far released Hitchcock DVDs in the US themselves, although both have licensed other companies to do so (e.g. Criterion and Lionsgate). If you find that surprising, then consider that neither company has directly released any Hitchcock DVDs in the UK -- again, they've licensed the films to other companies to release (e.g. Network and Optimum releasing).
To be honest, I was fast giving up hope of Granada ever releasing a Hitchcock film in the UK on DVD since they took over Carlton. Fortunately, Network managed to license 10 titles and their box set is due for release on the 25th Feb.
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I would welcome any comments about the above, especially if you think I've misunderstood any aspects of copyright (very possible!) or just plain got it wrong! :-D
Dave
