Delwedd:Footlight Parade (1933 theatrical poster).jpg

English: Scan via Heritage Auctions.

English: Artist unknown; presumably a work-for-hire for distributor Warner Bros.

English: No permission is required.

1. First, the photo is a mechanical scan/photocopy of the original poster and does not qualify for independent copyright protection.
2. Second, the poster was first published prior to 1978 without a valid copyright notice. It carried a defective notice that omits the year: "Copyright - WarnerBros. Pictures Inc" [sic]. While the mashing together of "Warner" and "Bros" is excusable, the omission of a year of publication is not. Keep in mind that the pre-1989 requirements for copyright notice were highly formalistic and, other than a few enumerated exceptions, required these three elements:

1. "The symbol © or the word 'Copyright' or the abbreviation 'Copr.' or an acceptable variant such as "(c)";
2. "The year of first publication for the work"; and
3. "The name of the copyright owner, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner."

If just one of these elements is omitted, the work is deemed to be published without notice and is not eligible for copyright protection. Even if the notice were somehow deemed sufficient, the poster art was not renewed as required by American copyright law to extend/maintain protection for works published 1963 or earlier. In order to maintain copyright protection, the poster would have had to be renewed 28 years after publication, in either 1960 or 1961 (see the sections for "Artwork: Original registrations and renewals" and refer to the links to search the copyright catalogs for those years). Because it was not renewed, copyright lapsed at that time. Note that the poster art is a distinct work from the film it represents and had to be renewed separately.