Shostakovich V. Twentieth Century-Fox | Shostakovich Twentieth Century-Fox

Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 80 N.Y.S.2d 575 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1948), aff'd, 87 N.Y.S.2d 430 (N.Y. App. Div. 1949), was a copyright lawsuit. In The Iron Curtain, a 1948 motion picture depicting Soviet espionage in Canada, Twentieth Century Fox used compositions by composers, who were citizens and residents of the Soviet Union as background music, and on the film credited these composers with the compositions. The name of one of the composers, Dmitri Shostakovich was also used in the picture when one of the characters therein incidentally referred to him in an appreciative manner. All of the music used was in the public domain and had no copyright protection, therefore the court refused to enjoin the use of the names and the music.

Furthermore, the use of the composers' names in conjunction with the compositions is not subject to restraint under the New York State civil rights law (§ 51). In the absence of copyright, others may use the names of the authors in copyrighting, publishing or compiling their works.

Assuming that the publication of defamatory matter may be enjoined, there was no showing that the composers have been slandered or libeled. There is furthermore no indication in the motion picture that the composers participated in or gave their approval or indorsement to the picture nor is their approval of it "necessarily implied" therein. No such implication exists, necessarily or otherwise, where the work of the composer is in the public domain and may be freely published, copied or compiled by others.

The case foreshadowed Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox over fifty years later.

(Source: public domain court decision.)

Dmitri Shostakovich

Operas	The Nose Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District Moscow, Cheryomushki Katerina Ismailova Orango

Ballets	The Golden Age The Bolt The Limpid Stream (The Bright Stream)

Symphonies	No. 1 in F minor No. 2 in B major ("To October") No. 3 in E♭ major ("The First of May") No. 4 in C minor No. 5 in D minor No. 6 in B minor No. 7 in C major ("Leningrad") No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in E minor No. 11 in G minor ("The Year 1905") No. 12 in D minor ("The Year 1917") No. 13 in B♭ minor ("Babi-Yar") No. 14 in G minor No. 15 in A major

Concertos	Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Violin Concerto No. 2 in C♯ minor Cello Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major

Orchestra works	Suite from "The Nose" Suite from "The Golden Age" Suite from "The Bolt" Suite from "The Limpid Stream" Suite from "Encounter at the Elbe" ("Meeting on the Elbe") Suite from "The Gadfly" Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1' Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 2 Suite for Variety Orchestra Tahiti Trot "Festive Overture" in A major for Orchestra "Novorossiisk Chimes, the Flame of Eternal Glory" for Orchestra

Film music	The New Babylon Alone Golden Mountains Counterplan The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda The Youth of Maxim Girl Friends The Return of Maxim The Vyborg Side Friends The Great Citizen Zoya Simple People The Young Guard Pirogov Michurin Meeting on the Elbe The Fall of Berlin Belinsky The Unforgettable Year 1919 The Gadfly Five Days, Five Nights Sofiya Perovskaya Hamlet King Lear

Vocal music	Rayok ("Little Paradise") Song of the Forests Suite on Finnish Themes From Jewish Folk Poetry Seven Songs on Poems by Alexander Blok

Chamber music	String quartets: No. 1 in C major No. 2 in A major No. 3 in F major No. 4 in D major No. 5 in B♭ major No. 6 in G major No. 7 in F♯ minor No. 8 in C minor No. 9 in E♭ major No. 10 in A♭ major No. 11 in F minor No. 12 in D♭ major No. 13 in B♭ minor No. 14 in F♯ major No. 15 in E♭ minor Other: Quartet Movement in E♭ major (c. 1960s) Violin Sonata Cello Sonata in D minor Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Piano Quintet in G minor

Piano music	Piano Sonata No. 2 in B minor Twenty-Four Piano Preludes and Fugues "Children's Notebook" (6) Three Fantastic Dances

Related articles	List of compositions by Dmitri Shostakovich Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Post-romanticism Neoclassicism

Portal:Classical music

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