Ravel court will give ruling in June
NewsThe verdict on the ownership of Ravel’s Bolero will be given on June 24, a court in Nanterre has decided.
A noted Ravel expert writes: ‘In France the bizarre long campaign against the Ravel Estate is conducted solely by the newspaper Le Figaro (informed by whom? why?). It is the heirs of the 1928 set designer Alexandre Benois of Ida Rubinstein’s Ballet, and not the heirs of Ravel or Durand Publishing House (they joined the plaintiffs side after the Benois Estate) who initiated this lawsuit against the SACEM. It is a complex legal debate on the definition of a collaborative work and not an artistic question about who composed Bolero.
Ravel’s Bolero composer in 1928, even with Wartime extensions which were granted to composers became public domain in 2016. This matter revolves around the ballet by Benois utilizing the music and his choreography. As Benois passed in 1960, it is still copyright covered almost everywhere. So the case revolves around the ballet, not when the work is soley performed by musicians who can play it rights free at this point. As with many works which bring in major revenue to heirs, as long as they have a legitimate claim, they are trying to milk the cow as long as they can. Currently for the ballet, based on Benois death, the copyright should technically remain in efffect until 2030 in France.
Alexander Benois claimed copy rights for the picture he painted advertising the ballet Bolero.Not for the ballet.On the picture is Ida RUbinstein,the ballerina for whom the Bolero was written.
Maybe her relatives will show up one day claiming something too!
Bo Lero
(trying the minimalist approach of online commentary)
How about rename it Bordelo to skirt copyright laws?