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Александр Кочетков (Alexander Kochetkov) wrote БАЛЛАДА О ПРОКУРЕННОМ ВАГОНЕ (Ballad of a Smoke Filled Wagon) in 1932. It was in wide circulation through an oral tradition and samizdat but not published until after his death in 1953. In 1966 Soviet Writer included it in “Day of Poetry 1966 (with an introduction by Lev Ozerov) and it was included in the anthology “The Song of Love” in 1996. It has been republished many times subsequently.

It is of household familiarity in Russia because it was recited in the 1975 TV film Irony of Fate which continues to be shown on State TV every New Year without fail.. The Poem is widely available for download from the internet in original and translated versions but copyright attributions are not shown.

I have set the original Russian poem to music and wish to upload it under a creative commons attribution licence

Could this poem be regarded as being in the public domain, or can it be uploaded with a caution that it has not proved possible to identify the copyright holder or literary heirs of Alexander Kochetkov!. Advice and suggestions please.

Peter Dyson

Provisionally, this appears to be free in the USA (A search of the copyright office website turned up nothing, and they have now included the NIE's in their online database). However, it would not be free in Canada due to the fact that it was first published in 1966 during the 50-year term after the author's death, which means it is protected in Canada. It is most likely protected in the EU and theoretically protected in Russia (to whatever extent they actually observe any copyright law there).