Lenin’s Favourite Songs: A Copyright Question

(Image from Wikipedia)

So in my last post I wrote the story of how I got this tape of Russian music, that I thought was called Lenin’s Favourites. I have looked high and low for a CD of the music, in all the music shops, on Amazon, etc. It’s not to be found and no one has even heard of it.

Then I googled Lenin’s Favourites yesterday, and found that people have been looking for the music that U2 used at the beginning of their song “Daddy’s Gonna Pay For Your Used Car”. Someone had found out that the music came from a record called Lenin’s Favourite Songs. Which is probably the tape I have. I listened to the U2 song, and the music is indeed from one of the songs on my tape.

With some more googling, I found that Lenin’s Favourite Songs was a record produced by a Soviet government-owned record label in the 1960s. It’s not for sale in the United States and I have found no mention of it ever being re-released.

So I was wondering: People want to hear this music and it’s not available. The record label that produced it doesn’t exist anymore, because the Soviet Union doesn’t exist anymore. So would there still be copyright on it, or could I get my tape transfered to CD and then upload it to Youtube? I wouldn’t be making money off it; I’d just be sharing something rare that I have and that can’t be acquired new in any other way.

I googled Soviet copyright law, and learned that all Soviet-era copyrighted products were transferred to Russian copyright law in the 1990s, which supposedly more or less follows international copyright law. As I understand it, music recordings have a copyright length of 50 years from the time of the recording. Which would make it alright to upload my tape to Youtube.

But in 2008 another part of Russian copyright law came into force, part IV of the Civil Code of Russia, and I’m confused about whether or not it extends copyright to 70 years after recording or not. And it seems that changes are still being made to the Code.

So my question is this: is there anyone out there who knows enough about Russian copyright law to tell me definitively whether or not I could share this music on Youtube?

16 responses to “Lenin’s Favourite Songs: A Copyright Question”

nlkiwinz1 | January 29, 2013 at 11:20 pm | Reply

Did you find this link:
http://www.ehow.com/how_8481019_access-russian-copyrighted-music.html

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | January 31, 2013 at 9:41 pm | Reply
  
  Thanks, Hanneke, but it seems to pertain only to performing copyrighted music. Even if the copyright on music recordings is 50 years instead of seventy, it still won’t be in the public domain yet, but apparently they are still changing copyright law over there. I’d just like to know.
  
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  - nlkiwinz1 | January 31, 2013 at 9:57 pm |
    
    In that article it says to ‘Check with ROSPATENT, the Russian federal copyright office, to determine any special laws governing the musical work.’
    
    Here’s their website:
    http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/61e1618e-fbf3-11e0-d400-8e000200001f?lang=en 😉
    
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  - Barbara Backer-Gray | February 1, 2013 at 12:23 am |
    
    Thanks. I sent them an email. I’ll see if I get a response.
    
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nrhatch | February 2, 2013 at 10:32 pm | Reply

I wish I knew enough to help you out . . . but I don’t. Good luck as you look into the issue.

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | February 2, 2013 at 11:03 pm | Reply
  
  Thanks.
  
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Zymann | July 28, 2013 at 3:11 am | Reply

Hello.

I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_etOhLepJxM
I really would like if you can share your tape. It would be great. 🙂
Regards

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | August 3, 2013 at 9:40 pm | Reply
  
  Yes! That’s one of the songs on my tape. But I never heard back from this Russian copyright agency, so I don’t know if I can. Thanks for the link.
  
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Anonymous | October 6, 2013 at 2:24 pm | Reply

When in the USSR in the 1980s I bought a copy of this record in Moscow. Sadly, I think I got rid of it with all my other LPs!

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | October 6, 2013 at 5:44 pm | Reply
  
  Too bad. You didn’t happen to be in the USSR together with a BBC producer called Peter or David, did you? He was in his fifties then, I think.That’s who gave me the tape.
  
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Alain Cozens | October 6, 2013 at 2:27 pm | Reply

I bought this LP in Moscow in the late 80s but think I gave it away with all my other ones!

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Grey | April 9, 2014 at 8:32 pm | Reply

It was re-released in 1978, according to this WNYC public radio article. If you ever find a real copy, let the world know! http://www.wnyc.org/story/lenin-favorite-songs/

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | April 9, 2014 at 10:45 pm | Reply
  
  Hm, interesting. I haven’t heard the tape I have in years, because I no longer have a cassette player, but I don’t remember these songs being on there. But if it was a 2-record set, maybe the cassette is of the second record. I just bought a little cassette transformer thingy, so soon I’ll be able to upload it to my computer. I never did get an answer from the Russian copyright folks, and I figure they’re too busy invading former Soviet satellites right now, so I might put them all on Youtube. Or at least my favorites.
  
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Sean McCormick | March 23, 2016 at 9:49 am | Reply

Have there been any updates on this in the interim? I’ve found one of the songs from this tape on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019D4W10?ie=UTF8&colid=23QTPCMMC0OB6&coliid=I17FUJGKZNTEZW&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl, track 36) but I’d love to know if the copyright issues on the original tape have been sorted out.

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- Barbara Backer-Gray | March 23, 2016 at 11:30 am | Reply
  
  Hi Sean, no, nothing so far. I sent a letter to the copyright department in Russia that seemed the most appropriate, but got no response, and I didn’t really expect one. I’m still debating just putting it on Youtube and just seeing what happens. So if I do and I die of poisoning, you’ll know why. 😉
  
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Anonymous | May 1, 2016 at 5:11 pm | Reply

Go for it

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