French justice on Friday rejected the rights holders of Maurice Ravel and the Russian decorator Alexandre Benois, who asked to recognize the latter as co-author of the famous “Boléro”. The work therefore remains in the public domain.
The Nanterre court, near Paris, “rejected the claims of the rights holders of Maurice Ravel and Alexandre Benois concerning Boléro, one of the most performed and broadcast works in the world,” the court said in a statement.
Regarding the hypothesis of a co-authorship of Alexandre Benois, the court considered that “the documents provided did not demonstrate his quality as author of the argument (short summary, editor’s note) of the ballet”. The thesis of another injured co-author, the choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, was also dismissed by this judgment, the artist having “never appeared on the documentation of the ‘Boléro’ as co-author”.
“Very reasoned decision”
Maurice Ravel’s heiress, Evelyne Pen de Castel, is also ordered to pay one euro to Sacem “in compensation for her loss resulting from the abuse of the author’s moral rights”, the decision states.
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One of the lawyers for the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem), which manages and collects copyright in France, welcomed a “very reasoned decision, which took care to examine all elements brought to the attention of the court”, and which validates the approach and position of the organization.
“We analyze the decision calmly before responding to the press,” declared the lawyer for the Ravel estate.
The business of 135,000 euros per year
This judgment ensures that at this stage, the “Boléro” remains in the public domain as it has been since 2016. Because if Sacem had had to recognize Alexandre Benois as co-author, this would have had the effect of protecting the work until May 1, 2039, the decorator having died in 1960.
In France, copyright on a musical composition lasts for the life of its author and then for the following seventy years. It then falls into the public domain and can be used freely. The Bolero was protected until May 1, 2016. Between 2011 and 2016, the amounts paid for copyright were around 135,000 euros per year on average.
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