Does a film being foreign necessarily mean it's copyrighted? No, but you need to do your research. Chances are if you are interested in hosting a non-American film it is an American dubbed version of that film, hence not the original version.

Whether or not such works are in the public domain hinges on:
1.) The films, since being modified, now regarded as independent works from the original.
2.) The films, being pre-1964 works, lack a copyright renewal.

Now, American film companies did renew copyright on English-dubbed foreign films, which would infer this was a requirement. This more than suggests that films not meeting this requirement, under then current copyright law, would now be in the public domain. Have I ever seen this in writing? No. Do I know how much control if any a foreign film studio could exert on works derived from their original work in such a scenario? I have no clue, which is why we are having this conversation.

Basically, if you are hosting an English-dubbed foreign film, pre-1964, and it did not have a copyright renewal you should be golden. Now, do I know that as a fact? Nope, surely don't, so take it as you will.

As for a foreign film already in English, this is a different matter. A copyright on a film from the UK does not expired until 70 years after the death of last surviving author, director, writer or composer (so don't hold your breath).






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