Law and Music in dialogue: success of the second edition of the summer course "Sinergias entre Derecho y Música"

From July 16 to 18, 2025, the second edition of the summer course “Synergies between Law and Music (II)” was held, with the participation of several members of the research group De Conflictu Legum both in the organization of the course and in its teaching. As in the previous year, students were able to learn from these professionals and from others who traveled to Santiago from the Universities of Zaragoza, Valencia, Oviedo, Madrid, and Seville. The enrolled students, in turn, also came from diverse fields and regions, which confirmed the course’s purpose of being open to disciplines beyond law, especially music, and of spreading its teaching beyond our Galician mountains.

Although last year we focused the theme on interpretative discourse, both legal and musical, this year we wanted to broaden the scope and, without abandoning these hermeneutical questions, there was space for the laws regulating artistic education, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on music, and the intellectual property of musical research and composition.

The first panel, moderated by the Professor of Civil Law of this institution, Antonia Nieto Alonso, focused on the legal analysis of some issues of Family Law and Contract Law. The first speaker was Encarna Roca Trías, Justice of the Supreme Court (2005–2012) and of the Constitutional Court (2012–2021). With mastery, she guided us through the family intricacies of Richard Wagner’s opera librettos, particularly those of the Ring of the Nibelung cycle. Among other points, she asked whether the relationships between Wotan and Frika, or between Sieglinde and Hunding, could be considered marital today, bearing in mind that in the libretto Sieglinde explains: “The clan of men / sat here in the hall / invited by Hunding to the wedding: / He wedded a woman / who, without being asked / was given to him by thieves as a wife.” As Dr. Roca rightly noted, according to article 45 of our Civil Code, there is no marriage without consent, and Sieglinde’s consent was clearly absent.

From Family Law we moved on to Contract Law, another great pillar of Civil Law, of which Professor María Paz García Rubio is an expert. Her lecture began with the following questions: first, whether it is possible to limit freedom of expression and artistic creation by contract. Secondly, she raised the reverse limits, since contracts in the artistic sector could, in turn, be limited by those freedoms, which have the rank of fundamental rights. The professor used several real cases to illustrate some possible answers to these questions, as a single one would be impossible given the variety of contracts present in the artistic sector and the particularities of each case. Among others, she mentioned the case of a singer who was bound to her record label practically for life, with a penalty clause that made it extremely difficult for the artist to terminate the contract, which is why the court of first instance declared the contract null.

After the coffee break, the second panel was moderated by Professor Celia Prados García from the University of Córdoba. The first to speak was Jesús Delgado Echeverría, Professor Emeritus of Civil Law at the University of Zaragoza, who gave an overview of various technical, social, and legal norms of musical practice. Thus, among many curiosities, he explained that in 1887 the French, following the Vienna Conference, set the frequency of the note A at different pitches depending on whether it was for a symphony orchestra (442 Hz, to sound more “brilliant”), for singers (435 Hz), or what they considered “natural” (set at 432 Hz). This later evolved into the creation of ISO standards throughout the 20th century, on acoustic standards of musical frequency. Professor Delgado also spoke of etiquette rules about the musicians’ “tails” (formal wear) introduced under conductor Von Karajan, and many other matters such as the castrati in the Church or the prohibition of performing operas during Lent.

This lecture was followed by that of Galician composer Joam Trillo, who guided us through the intricacies of musical notation and instrument tuning throughout history. Among other matters, he explained the significance of the invention of the tempered system; also, linking with the previous presentation, he pointed out from a musical perspective why the pitch changed from 370 Hz to 435 Hz during the Baroque period, and finally to 440 Hz with the advent of large orchestral formations.

The afternoon session of July 16 was entirely devoted to a synthetic analysis of various legal issues of great interest to music professionals: the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the sector, criminal offenses against intellectual property included in our legal system, and finally some questions about the validity and effectiveness of contracts in the music sector. This was moderated by Professor and researcher Hernán Cortez, member of the organizing group of the course. The relationship between music and AI was presented by Professor Paula Vega García from the University of Oviedo, who first broke down the different copyrights generated over a musical work, distinguishing, where applicable, the composer, the lyricist, and the music producer, in addition to the neighboring rights that apply to performers and executive production. Through real cases, she explained the current state of AI training with music, noting that there is still no unanimous response either in our country or in neighboring ones, which sparked an intense debate with the students. Next, we moved on to the criminal sphere with Professor María Castro Corredoira of this institution, who described the characteristics of the basic offense against intellectual property. Thus, students learned what behaviors are sanctioned, what is considered plagiarism by the courts, and what type of intent is required in such cases; all illustrated with real-life cases such as one involving a well-known musical. As the highlight of the afternoon, Professor Borja del Campo from the University of Oviedo returned to thorny contractual issues: starting from the example of a recording contract, he explained the notions of validity/invalidity and effectiveness/ineffectiveness of contracts. He ended his talk with a mention of the patron saint of music, Saint Cecilia, recommending a visit to Bologna and its Pinacoteca, where one can see Raphael’s painting depicting the saint holding an organ in her hands, with several musical instruments at her feet, gazing at a choir of angels.

The first panel of Thursday, July 17, moderated by Professor Eugenia Torres Costas from the Complutense University of Madrid, began with a review of Law 1/2024 on higher artistic education, presented by the administrative law expert Antonio Embid Irujo, Professor at the University of Zaragoza. After providing a historical overview of the main regulations that, since the 18th century, governed artistic studies in our country, the professor explained the novelties of the law — among others, the requirement of doctoral studies for certain teaching positions — and the singularities of these studies, such as the fact that student attention is much more personalized. Unlike in other nearby countries, Law 1/2024 still does not integrate these studies into the university structure — although they are considered equivalent as higher education. As the professor explained, although they would not easily fit within traditional universities either, he gave reasons why he would advocate for their integration into artistic universities. Several questions arose in the subsequent debate from students coming from higher conservatories of music, institutions where the law will have a full impact — provided that the draft Royal Decree that will definitively implement it is passed.

Next came Professor Juan Ureña Salcedo, also an expert in administrative law, from the University of Valencia. After discussing the complex French doctrine of separable acts, he illustrated the different administrative agreements signed in the field of the arts, giving several examples. We also discussed the difficulties in differentiating, at times, whether artistic activities fall under labor, civil, or administrative regimes.

The second panel of the morning, moderated by our student collaborator Lucía Rodríguez Lema, combined intellectual property issues seen from both musical and legal perspectives. The first speaker was Montserrat Capelán, music professor and coordinator of the Organistrum group at the University of Santiago de Compostela, who began by explaining how fixed rates worked in the 19th century for the so-called “lyric galleries,” which rented operas and zarzuelas. As an example, she spoke of Canuto Berea, who, besides being an orchestra conductor and violinist, managed all the rights of Coruña’s lyric galleries. She also raised intellectual property questions currently arising in the research carried out by her group, some of which were addressed by the next speaker, lawyer Martín Bello Castro. His talk focused on the rights of live music performers, beginning by explaining the symbiosis between performance and musical work, as neither can exist without the other. He clarified what is understood by performer, a concept that cannot be attributed to legal entities (such as choirs or orchestras), and highlighted, among all the rights granted to them by the Intellectual Property Law, the right to the fixation of their performance.

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 17, we changed venues and moved to the University Church, where Adrián Regueiro, organist of Santiago Cathedral, told us about some peculiarities of the organ as a musical instrument: its invention, its development throughout Western history, its technical and sound characteristics… as well as anecdotes from his work as cathedral organist that made his talk very engaging. Afterwards, we enjoyed a concert by Professor and organist Marisol Mendive. Thus, students from different academic backgrounds were able to observe up close the complex functioning of a pipe organ. The organist, through a musical program designed expressly for this 19th-century organ, showcased the sonic beauty of this historic instrument through toccatas, sonatas, preludes, dances, and battles. The course participants expressed great satisfaction at such a unique and unforgettable afternoon.

Since Thursday afternoon had been dominated by musical performance, the last day of the course was reserved for legal interpretation. Thus, on Friday, July 18, the panel was made up of Professors Manuel García Mayo, from the University of Seville, and Marta Otero Crespo, from this institution. Moderated by Professor Roca Trías, our civil law colleague began by referring to the maxim expressed by M. Caterini: “Law, like Music, is a performative discipline.” She therefore refuted another often-repeated maxim (in claris non fit interpretatio), since even in cases that seem straightforward, interpretation by the jurist of the applicable rules is necessary, as she illustrated with different cases brought before the courts — among them the well-known case of Matilde and “Pacicos,” in which what seemed to be merely a love letter turned out to be, at the same time, a holographic will in which Matilde left “everything” to her beloved Pacicos.

Next, Professor García Mayo compared the different interpretations that can be made of a single provision, specifically Article 96 of the Civil Code, which establishes who should have the use of the family home in the event of the couple’s separation. The professor from Seville asked whether cohabitation with a third party would extinguish the right to use the family home previously granted. While the Supreme Court has taken that position, the professor disagreed, arguing for an interpretation of the Civil Code provision that considers the purpose of the measure: to keep minors in the home where they lived before their parents’ separation. Another interpretive issue he raised was the possibility of an electronic holographic will, which he defended by interpreting the rule in light of today’s social reality, sparking an interesting debate with the audience, both students and professors.

After this final panel and a well-deserved coffee break, the director of the research group De Conflictu Legum, María Paz García Rubio, together with the director of the course, Julia Ammerman Yebra, brought the course to a close, thanking the students for their enthusiastic participation and the generosity of all the professors involved, and expressing their hope that, if circumstances allow, a third edition may be held in the coming years.