Just in: Publisher prohibits use of older Prokofiev scores

Orchestras and ballet companies have been scratching their heads and phoning their lawyers since this missive landed yesterday:

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to you today with some important information regarding the ballets ROMEO AND JULIET and CINDERELLA, composed by Sergei Prokofiev. These dramatic stage works, having been conceptualized and created collaboratively by their composer and librettists, are co-authored and receive copyright protection as “joint works,” as do the derivative compositions created from the complete ballets.

Both ballets, their derivative concert suites and excerpts, received protection under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), and are therefore protected in the United States for a period of 95 years from their initial publication dates. In other territories, the works are protected for the applicable term afforded to copyrighted works; joint works being protected based on the death date of the last surviving co-author. (Please refer to the information below as concerns such relevant dates.)

While your organization may own a legally purchased set of score and parts of an earlier edition of these works, we are obliged to inform you that G. Schirmer, Inc., and the Wise Music Group have prepared new performance editions of both ballets as well as their derivative works. These new editions of full scores and instrumental parts are the only editions authorized by the Prokofiev Estate and must be used for all future performances.

For staged performances of these ballets, the licensing of public performance Grand Rights remains mandatory for performances which take place with either live musicians and/or with recorded accompaniment.

• When performing these works with live accompaniment a rental agreement must be obtained in addition to a public performance “Grand Rights” license.
• When performing with only recorded accompaniment, a public performance “Grand Rights” license must be obtained.

Please know that the right to perform any work in public is within the exclusive province of the composer in the first instance. Sergei Prokofiev assigned the public performance right to G. Schirmer within its territory, with a reservation of the right of absolute approval over the edition that is used to perform the work publicly. The Kalmus edition, and any other unofficial performance materials made available prior to restoration of copyright under the URAA have no such approval and their use to perform the works publicly is unauthorized.

ASCAP, as the assignee of the public performance right from G. Schirmer, can have no greater rights than the rights that Prokofiev gave to G. Schirmer. Therefore, the public performance licenses from ASCAP to orchestras, ballet companies, venues, and festivals are valid only for public performances using the edition approved by Prokofiev and licensed for performance to ASCAP by G. Schirmer as Prokofiev’s assignee. Grand Rights licenses will not be issued for live performances which do not utilize the new editions, and ASCAP licenses for non-dramatic performances shall not be valid when unauthorized performance materials are used.

Wise Music Group reserves the right to retroactively license and invoice unreported performances which are discovered. Such performances shall be subject to penalty fees.

ROMEO AND JULIET:
BALLET IN 4 ACTS, OP. 64 (1935-36)

Composed by Sergei Prokofiev
Co-Authors:
Librettist – Sergei Radlov (1892-1958)
Librettist – Adrian Piotrovsky (1898-1938)
Librettist – Leonid Lavrovsky (1905-1967)
wisemusicclassical.com/work/31702/Romeo-and-Juliet–Sergei-Prokofiev

CINDERELLA:
BALLET IN 3 ACTS, OP. 87 (1940-44)

Composed by Sergei Prokofiev
Co-Author:
Librettist – Nicolas Volkov (d. 1965)
wisemusicclassical.com/work/31718/Cinderella–Sergei-Prokofiev

For information about rental material and licensing of public performance rights, please direct enquiries to the Rental/Licensing Department or agent of Wise Music in your territory.
wisemusicclassical.com/rental
wisemusicclassical.com/licensing

For additional information and to view online perusal scores, please visit the URLs of the works’ pages on the Wise Music Classical website as noted above. We look forward to assisting you with licensing your future productions and concert performances of these ballets.