Audra HilseThe fourth in our series of highlights from the expanded second edition of Letters of Ayn Rand is this November 1946 letter from Rand to her attorney, John C. Gall, which shows the lengths to which Rand went to preserve and protect the integrity of her artistic properties. In 1942, during World War II, a film company in Italy, Scalera Studios, produced a film version (in two parts) of We the Living, Rand’s first novel. This was done without Rand’s knowledge or permission, violating her intellectual property rights.
The violation was exacerbated by the fact that both of the films were “made in cooperation with the Ministry of Popular Culture as semi-official, fascist, anti-Russian and anti-leftist propaganda.” 1 Ayn Rand learned about the piracy in 1946, several years after the films were made, and was furious that her novel, with its theme condemning all dictatorships (whether Communist, fascist, or any other kind), had been used in such a way. 2 Rand did like many things about the films, particularly the casting of Alida Valli as Kira Argounova, and learned that they had been very popular in Italy because audiences recognized her anti-dictatorship theme in spite of the inserted propaganda. She later approved an edited version of the film that removed pro-fascist and anti-Semitic dialogue.
She hired Gall to help her pursue restitution. The following letter is from very early in this process; Rand did eventually receive compensation for the violation of her intellectual property many years later in 1962.
(Commentary from editor Michael Berliner is in italics.)
[Letter 282, Chapter 6; context on Gall copied from Letter 80]Ayn Rand met John Gall (1901–57) in 1941, when Gall was the attorney for the National Association of Manufacturers. In her biographical interviews, she described him as “a violent conservative” (“violent” being her word for “extremely passionate”). She hired him in 1946 to handle her piracy claim regarding the 1942 Italian films of We the Living, and later he handled her lengthy and successful effort to bring Marie Strachow, her old Russian family friend and teacher, to America from a war refugee internment camp in Austria. This letter was previously published only on the Ayn Rand Institute website.
November 15, 1946
Mr. John C. Gall
Gall and Lane
Southern Building
Washington 5, D.C.
Dear John:
Thank you for your letter of October 31. Excuse me if I have taken so long to answer, but I am stopped by the necessity to make a choice of the Italian attorneys whose letters you sent me.
I have read these three letters very carefully and I don’t think I can really judge them clearly enough to make a decision. Do you want me to be the one to decide? Since I don’t know Italian legal procedure, I have no way of estimating these attorneys’ attitude or knowledge.
I think you can judge their competence from the letters much better than I can. Also, perhaps you may have reliable sources to check up on them in greater detail. I can tell you my impressions of the letters, but I would like you to take the responsibility of selecting the attorney you prefer yourself. I would only urge you not to make a decision until you are certain, and not to take anyone if you have any doubts or reservations against him. Please check as thoroughly as possible, or have someone, whom you can trust, check on them in Europe before you make a decision.
Now as to my impression of these three letters, I have noted a few doubts against all three.
1. Mr. Luciani. He seems to suggest that he wants to be your permanent representative in Italy, as part of his condition for taking our case. I wonder if this is proper on his part. Also, I wonder whether what he calls “a mandate” or “warrant for law suit” (a copy of which you enclosed) is the proper thing for us to sign? This warrant ends on sentence: “He hereby promises to hold their action as firm and binding.” This seems to be a complete power of attorney which would give Mr. Luciani the right to dispose of the case in any manner he wishes. If I understood this correctly, I would certainly object to that. I think our Italian attorney should represent us, but the final decision on any settlement should be ours.
2. Mr. Marghieri. His letter seems to show the greatest interest in the case. But, as you noted, I wonder how he found out that the case involves my book. Unless mine is the only book by an American author that has been pirated by an Italian movie company, this might mean that he has some connection with Scalera. Also, I do not quite like the fact that the Colonel Walton whom he gives as reference is not in Washington, but in Italy, which makes a personal check-up impossible.
3. Mr. Graziadei. The fact that he is the attorney for a long list of American picture companies is both in his favor and against him. What disturbs me is the fact that in his first letter to the Ann Watkins office, Mr. Downs warned us that the Scalera Company has connections with the Hollywood crowd in Italy. Also, Scalera are making all kinds of deals with American picture companies here. So there is a possibility that the interests of one of the companies which Mr. Graziadei represents might clash with ours. If so, he would be in a difficult position, and I would rather not have an attorney with divided allegiance. Also, there is one point in Mr. Graziadei’s letter to which I object very much. He writes that: “No legal action is possible against the Italian film company if same has been authorized by Italian ministry”. Is he legally correct about that? Are we supposed to recognize as legal and binding the decrees of the Fascist government? If this point is open to doubt and interpretation, or is to be settled by the final peace treaty with Italy, yet Mr. Graziadei has already taken the above attitude in favor of Scalera — then he is certainly not the man for us, and I would reject him at once for this reason.
The above are my opinions of the three letters. I will be very interested to know whether my amateur legal judgement is correct. Let me know your own opinion of this — and please let me know the reasons of your decision before you commit yourself to the attorney you choose.
I am sending a letter to the Superfilm Distributing Corporation, in the form you suggested, and I shall let you know as soon as I receive an answer.
The Ann Watkins office has written to me that Baldini & Castoldi are very anxious to have me sign the contract for the Italian publication rights to THE FOUNTAINHEAD. May I sign it or are you still uncertain as to how it will affect our case under Italian law? If it is too early for you to tell, I will not sign it now — there is no reason for me to hurry on this. But if you think that this will not affect WE THE LIVING at all, then let me know.
With best regards.
Sincerely yours,
The second edition of Letters of Ayn Rand is now available for pre-orders on Amazon. It will be published on Dec. 2, 2025.
Photo credit: J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10).
Brandon Lisi
