The Lord of the Rings

[diane]

Wow. That is interesting! Do you know _why_ there would be those provisions? Did the composers have some axe to grind with dancing / dancers?

Perhaps they felt that dancing to their music would somehow make it less the center of attention?

-d-

[Mel Johnson]

I don't know what Dukas' problem was, but Strauss was a composer with a lot of crotchets (and quavers ). He hated tenors, so Octavian is a mezzo trouser role in Rosenkavalier. Christopher Tolkien is a kind of guy who is constantly on hair-trigger about his father's work. He once wanted to enter suit on a matter, and was advised by his solicitor that he'd be suing himself. The discovery phase of trial should at least demonstrate whether there is a shortage in the royalties to the Estate. 7.5% of gross is a rather unusually large compensation, but we'll see.

[dirac]

I just hope this doesn't derail the film(s) of "The Hobbit." Once big projects like this get shelved, they don't necessarily come back. Let's hope for the best.

He once wanted to enter suit on a matter, and was advised by his solicitor that he'd be suing himself.

[Anthony_NYC]

At least with Strauss and Dukas, it was the creators themselves who made this edict, and presumably for artistic reasons, whether one agrees with them or not. Nowadays, it always seems to be the estate or the copyright holder or some such, and their only concern is making money. Anyway, copyright laws being as impenetrably convoluted as they are, whenever I hear about these cases it always seems to me like the party that prevails only does so because they have cleverer lawyers.

The J.K. Rowling case that's been in the news lately is an interesting mix. My personal feeling is she's wrong on this one, though at least she's wrong for the right reasons (charity).

[Mel Johnson]

Perhaps Strauss' estate has not been insisting on the "no dance" provision, whether by court finding, or simply by having all the executors and beneficiaries dead! "Four Last Songs" has been used by a couple of choreographers since Eliot Feld tried to use it in the 80s. He wrote them in 1948, intending them for Kirsten Flagstad. The next year, he died.