Use of Libretto as a Copyright Object for Creating a Musical Stage Work

Abstract

The article is devoted to issues related to the peculiarities of using libretto being the object of copyright as part of the complex work. A peculiarity of this type of work is its narrow applicability in the field of art – its use as a literary basis for staging opera and ballet performances, which is why judicial practice does not have an established position on the issues of proving authorship and the legality of using libretto when staging performances. The purpose of this work is to study the features of libretto as the copyright object which influence the legal regulation of libretto when used in the creation of a musical stage work. The objectives of this work are: 1) description of the criteria for libretto as the object of copyright for its qualification as a derivative work according to the rules of paragraph 1 of Article 1260 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; 2) studying the connection between libretto and musical work, choreography when creating a musical stage work; 3) research into the possibility of using the same libretto when staging ballets to the music of different composers. It is concluded that, unlike other script works, libretto as an independent work can be used in different ballet productions based on the same literary source and being independent synthetic works though. The ability for transformation and diverse embodiment makes libretto a unique tool in the hands of stage works creators, allowing each time to reinterpret classic literary works.