For nearly 75 years after its publication, the music of
O sole mio was generally attributed to
Eduardo di Capua alone. According to the traditional account, he had composed it in April 1898 in
Odessa, while touring with his father's band. It turned out, however, that the melody was an elaboration of one of 23 he had bought from
Alfredo Mazzucchi in the preceding year. In November 1972, shortly after her father's death, Mazzucchi's daughter lodged a declaration with Italy's Office of Literary, Artistic and Scientific Property, which sought to have her father recognised as a co-composer of 18 of di Capua's songs, including
O sole mio. In October 2002, Maria Alvau, a judge in
Turin, upheld the declaration, ruling that Mazzucchi had indeed been a legitimate co-composer of the 18 songs, because they included melodies he had composed and then sold to di Capua in June 1897, with a written authorisation for the latter to make free use of them. At the time of the decision, therefore,
O sole mio had not yet entered into the
public domain in any country that was a party to the
Berne Convention during the relevant period, which it would have done in Italy if Di Capua had been the sole composer of the music. == Lyrics ==