The strategy of the heirs of French composer and conductor Maurice Ravel to expand the private ownership of the orchestral work “Bolero” has failed, the court in Nanterre announced on June 28, TF1 Info reports.
This famous work by the French composer, commissioned from the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein, has been at the centre of a legal process to this day. The successors of Maurice Ravel and Alexandre Benois, the Russian decorative artist, wanted the latter to be recognised as co-author of the work by the Society of Authors, Composers and Musical Publishers (Sacem).
The court, held in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, rejected his request. Thus, on June 28, justice triumphed: Maurice Ravel is the only composer. One of the world’s most popular pieces of music will remain in the public domain as of May 1, 2016.
If Sacem, which controls and enforces copyright in France, had recognized Alexandre Benoist, who died in 1960, as co-author of Bolero, the work would have been protected by copyright until May 1, 2039. The court rejected this assumption.
“The materials presented do not confirm Benoit’s co-authorship”they said in court.
This decision also rejected the thesis of another applicant, who presented the choreographer and dancer Bronislava Nijinska as a co-author of the musical work. The court determined that the artist never appeared in the documentation of Bolero as a co-author.
“The court, in fact, ruled that Sacem had the right to resist the Ravel heirs’ ploy to artificially and beyond reasonable limits extend its copyright in Bolero.”said Josée-Anne Benazeraf, a lawyer for the company.
Maurice Ravel’s heiress, Evelyne Pin de Castel, must pay Sacem a symbolic sum of 1,000 euros “as compensation for damage caused by abuse of moral copyright”says the court ruling.
Remember that in France, the copyright of a musical work lasts for the life of its author and then for the next seventy years. It then enters the public domain and can be used freely.
“Bolero” was protected for seventy-eight years and four months, as the law provided for an extension intended to compensate French authors for lost earnings during the two world wars, which resulted in copyright protection being extended until May 1, 2016.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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