Supreme Court: ‘Peter and the Wolf’ Can Be Removed From Public Domain

In a setback for educators and orchestras, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress can place works under copyright that were once free for everyone to use.

In a 6-2 ruling, the Court rejected a symphony conductor’s claim that it was a violation of the First Amendment and an illegal taking for Congress to give retroactive copyright protection to Prokofiev and other foreign composers whose works have been freely available for decades. Congress decided to extend copyright to the composers and many other long-dead foreign artists as part of international trade negotiations in the 1990’s. The result was that people wishing to use works like Astrid Lindgen’s Pippi Longstocking and Jean-Luc Godard’s À Bout du Souffle must now pay royalties.