English: Scan via Heritage Auctions. Cropped from the original.

English: Design and painting by Monte Dolack; poster published and distributed by Blank's Flower Films production company.

English: The poster omitted a copyright notice and was published in the United States in 1982 (i.e., between 1978 and 1989), and neither the poster design overall, nor the underlying painting by Mr. Dolack, were subsequently registered with the U.S. Copyright Office within five years of publication; see the searchable Copyright Catalog (1978 to present). As such, the opportunity for copyright protection expired in 1988 and the poster entered the public domain.

Additional notes:

• The poster art is a distinct work from the film it represents and had to carry its own notice and/or be registered as its own separate work to establish copyright protection. The film Burden of Dreams remains copyrighted.
• 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."

Credits like "Design and painting by Monte Dolack" (at the bottom), or the artist's signature "M. Dolack" (seen at the right edge) do not meet these requirements.