The Internationale

Infobox Anthem
title = The Internationale
alt_title = L'Internationale (French)


image_size =
caption = "L'Internationale" in the original French.
prefix = International
country = International Socialist Movement
author = Eugène Pottier
lyrics_date = 1871
composer = Pierre De Geyter
music_date = 1888
adopted = 1890s
until =
sound = Internationale Russian.ogg
sound_title = Russian version of "The Internationale"

"The Internationale" ("L'Internationale" in French) is a famous socialist, communist, and social-democratic anthem and one of the most widely recognized songs in the world.

The "Internationale" became the anthem of international socialism. Its original French refrain is "C'est la lutte finale/ Groupons-nous et demain/ L'Internationale/ Sera le genre humain." (Freely translated: "This is the final struggle/ Let us join together and tomorrow/ The Internationale/ Will be the human race.") "The Internationale" has been translated into many of the world's languages. Traditionally it is sung with the hand raised in a clenched fist salute. "The Internationale" is sung not only by communists but also (in many countries) by socialists or social democrats, as well as anarchists.

Original French lyrics and copyright controversy

The original French words were written in June 1871 by Eugène Pottier (1816–1887, later a member of the Paris Commune) [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7078/inter.txt|title=The International|author=The Guardian, Australia|pages=first paragraph] and were originally intended to be sung to the tune of "La Marseillaise". [cite web|url=http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/wallsd/smm-aging-anthems.shtml#_ednref15|title=Billy Bragg's Revival of Aging Anthems: Radical Nostalgia or Activist Inspiration?|author=David Walls, Sonoma State University] Pierre De Geyter (1848–1932) set the poem to music in 1888. [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7078/inter.txt|title=The International|author=The Guardian, Australia|pages=ninth paragraph] His melody was first publicly performed in July 1888 [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7078/inter.txt|title=The International|author=The Guardian, Australia|pages=11th paragraph] and became widely used soon after.

In an unsuccessful attempt to save Pierre De Geyter's job as a woodcarver, the 6,000 leaflets printed by Lille printer Bolboduc only mentioned the French version of his family name (Degeyter). In 1904, Pierre's brother Adolphe was induced by the Lille mayor Gustave Delory to claim copyright, so that the income of the song would continue to go to Delory's French Socialist Party. Pierre De Geyter lost the first copyright case in 1914, but after his brother committed suicide and left a note explaining the fraud, Pierre was declared the copyright owner by a court of appeal in 1922. [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7078/inter.txt|title=The International|author=The Guardian, Australia]
*Pierre De Geyter died in 1932. His music of the "Internationale" may be copyrighted in France until October 2017. The duration of copyright in France is 70 years following the death of the author, plus 6 years and 152 days to compensate for the World War I, and 8 years and 120 days to compensate for the World War II respectively. [Arts. L123-1, L123-8, and L123-9 in [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/cpialtext.htm#Chapter%20III:%20Term%20of%20Protection Chapter III of Title II of Book I of the Intellectual Property Code of France] and [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/VisuArticleCode?commun=CPROIN&code=&h0=CPROINTL.rcv&h1=1&h3=9 its French version] .] However, the applicability of the wartime copyright extensions is a matter of current litigation. [See also for the list of some relevant French lawsuits with external links.] In 2005, Le Chant du Monde, the corporation administering the authors' rights, asked Pierre Merejkowsky, the film director and an actor of "Insurrection / résurrection", to pay €1,000 for whistling the song for seven seconds. [fr icon [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3476,36-636777,0.html Le Monde] and [http://www.zalea.org/spip.php?article245 Zalea TV] .]

However, as the "Internationale" music was published before 1 July 1909 outside the United States of America, it is in the public domain in the USA. [cite web|url=http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm|title=Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States|author=Peter B. Hirtle] Pierre De Geyter's music is also in the public domain in countries and areas whose copyright durations are authors' lifetime plus 75 years or less. As Eugène Pottier died in 1887, his original French lyrics are in the public domain. Gustave Delory once acquired the copyright of his lyrics through the songwriter G B Clement having bought it from Pottier's widow. [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/7078/inter.txt|title=The International|author=The Guardian, Australia|pages=16th paragraph]

A Techno version of the anthem has been recorded by Maxx Klaxon under the title "Internationale 2000", with original lyrics making references to television and soldiers in mutiny. [ [http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858540513] ( [http://klaxon.tv/downloads/maxx_klaxon-internationale_2000.mp3 Complete MP3 from Maxx Klaxon's website] )]

Instrumental recordings

ee also

*Anarchism and the arts for further details on expression of anarchist themes through art
*"The Internationale", an album by Billy Bragg featuring Bragg's rewritten lyrics to the song.
*Pierre De Geyter

Other language versions

*The Internationale in Chinese
*The Internationale in Bengali
*The Internationale in Hindi
*The Internationale in Filipino

References

External links

* [http://www.prato.linux.it/~lmasetti/canzonicontrolaguerra/canzone.php?lang=en&id=2003&infos=1 "The Internationale" in 85 languages]
* [http://www.hymn.ru/internationale/index-en.html Downloadable recordings in more than 40 languages]
*ru icon [http://sovmusic.ru/list.php?part=1&category=inter Another large collection] of downloadable recordings
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHrpDCKpGPo Communist propaganda clip with the Internationale as background music (Albanian and Russian)]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356746/ A documentary on the Internationale.]
* [http://www.engelbachmusic.com/internationale/ Piano arrangements and orchestral MIDI file of "The Internationale"]