A French court on Friday ruled that composer Maurice Ravel wrote his famous "Bolero" piece by himself. The heirs of stage designer Alexandre Benois, who worked on the original performance of the piece, argued that celebrated Russian set-dresser should have been credited as a co-author.
Ravel first performed "Bolero" at the Paris Opera in 1928 and it was an immediate sensation.
He died 10 years later and his heirs earned millions of dollars until the copyright ran out in 2016 and the piece passed into public domain.
In France, copyright runs for 70 years after a composer's death, though some extra years were added to make up for losses during World War II.
However, the heirs of Alexandre Benois, a celebrated stage designer who worked on the original performance of "Bolero", argued that he should have been credited as a co-author and demanded a share of the proceeds.
And because Benois died in 1960, that would put "Bolero" back under copyright until 2039.
"The music of the Bolero was created especially for the ballet" and should not be considered as a stand-alone piece of orchestra music, a lawyer for the Benois estate told a French court in February.
Ravel's estate supported the claim that it was a "collaborative work" with the Russian set-dresser, not least because they would start receiving copyright payments again.
The claimants pointed to various documents that name Benois as a co-author of the music.
A court in Nanterre outside Paris on Friday rejected claims that "Bolero" was a "collaborative work" with Benois and ruled that the work "consequently remains in the public domain", the court said in a statement.
On the other side, France's Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers (Sacem), maintained the claim was based on a "historical fiction".
Sacem pointed to an official declaration signed by Ravel in 1929 identifying him as the sole author.
Sacem's lawyer said the rights once generated "millions and millions of euros" per year, though this had fallen to an average of 135,507 euros annually between 2011 and 2016.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
