Maurice Ravel is the sole author of the Boléro, according to the courts

Maurice Ravel is the sole author of Boléro, according to the Nanterre court, which ruled on Friday in the copyright case relating to one of the most widely performed pieces of classical music in the world. This decision means that the famous piece, which fell into the public domain in 2016, remains free of copyright.

The stakes were high in this case, which pitted the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (Sacem) against Maurice Ravel's heirs. The latter argued that the Russian painter and decorator Alexandre (Nikolaïevitch) Benois was a co-author of Boléro, whose copyright fell into the public domain in 2016, whereas, according to them, it should be protected until 1 May 2039, as Alexandre Benois died in 1960.

At the hearing on 14 February, Maurice Ravel's heirs argued that refusing to recognize their grandfather as a co-author of this worldwide success is not a right that Sacem can arrogate to itself. They argued that Boléro was a "collaborative work" with the Russian decorator, with historical justification. They referred in particular to the mention of Benois's name in the argument for two ballets performed on the evening of the premiere of Maurice Ravel's work at the Opéra Garnier in 1928.

Maurice Ravel's beneficiaries will appeal against the judgment. However, the court ruled in favor of Sacem, whose lawyer, Josée-Andrée Bénazéraf, had argued that "recognizing the co-authorship of the work would have meant having to tear up the 1929 declaration form signed by Maurice Ravel, who designated himself as the sole author of Boléro, and replace it, which infringes the moral rights of the composer who has always considered himself to be the sole author." The argument of another aggrieved co-author, the choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, was also dismissed by the ruling, as the artist had, according to the ruling, "never appeared on the Boléro documentation as a co-author."

Interviewed by Radio Classique just after the court's decision, Manuel Cornejo, founding president of the Friends of Maurice Ravel association, said he was "delighted." For the researcher and musicographer, "In the name of historical truth, it was not possible for Maurice Ravel's memory to be tarnished, especially for reasons that were absolutely not artistic. History cannot be rewritten."

Boléro was protected for 78 years and four months: in France, the rights to a work lapse 70 years after the author's death (Maurice Ravel died in December 1937), but the law provides for extensions to compensate French artists for the loss of earnings during the two world wars, bringing the protection to 1 May 2016.