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A French court has ruled that Boléro, one of the world’s most famous works of classical music, was written only by Maurice Ravel, in a high-stakes court ruling that could remove the work from the public domain.
Ravel performs for the first time Bolero at the Paris Opera in 1928 and was an instant sensation. He died 10 years later and his heirs were paid millions of dollars until the copyright expired in 2016.
in Francecopyright generally lasts 70 years after the composer’s death, although a few extra years were added to compensate for losses during World War II.
The heirs of Alexandre Benoit, a famous stage designer who worked on the original performance of Boléro, argued that he should have been credited all along as a co-author and demanded a share of the proceeds. And since Benoit died in 1960, if the court had ruled in their favor, that would have put Bolero back under copyright until 2039.
A lawyer for the Benoit estate told a French court in February that “the music of Bolero was created specifically for the ballet” and should not be seen as separate orchestral music.
Ravel’s estate backed the claim that it was a “joint work” with the Russian decorator, not least because he would once again start receiving royalties. The plaintiffs point to various documents that identify Benoit as the co-author of the music.
The successful party in the case was the French Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem), which said the claim of co-authorship was based on “historical fiction”. Satzem points to an official declaration signed by Ravel in 1929 that identifies him as the sole author.
Sacem’s lawyer said the rights once generated “millions and millions of euros” a year, although this fell to an average of €135,507 (£115,000) a year between 2011 and 2016.
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