Full Story (Please Read): Composers say they're paupers in royalty game
Fordat1
Dear Stephen,
Plesea post this to the mailing list, I think it's a very important issue that
open alot of eyes to what really happens in the real world of film music.
Also you have to be a online subscriber to HOLLYWOOD REPORTER to get at it.
Best Wises
Ford
Hello Folks,
This story appears in today's edtion of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
It shoud be of great interest to all fans of composers,musicians,and fans of
film music.
I'm very interested in getting your reactions to what is reported on within
this story.
I would urge you to pass this onto as many other composers and musicians who
work in this field as you can
Ford A. Thaxton
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/archive/hollywood/current/frontpage/front
page04.asp
Composers say they're paupers in royalty game
(Fri.-Sun., Sept. 18-20, 1998)
By David Robb (From the Hollywood Reporter
Every time a song or musical score plays on television, royalty payments
are made to the music's writers. In television animation, however, the
people receiving checks are not always those who created and composed
the music.
While that may be legal, it raises the hackles of many composers who
accepted one-time payments for their work and lament that they were
underpaid and frequently denied credit for their creative labors by
companies that operate like factories.
"When they hire a composer," a staff music arranger and composer at a
major animation producer said, "we're offered an hourly fee to write
music. There is no chance of owning royalties, and we've basically been
told that we can be replaced if we don't like it.
"This shouldn't be allowed in the industry," he said. "It's far bigger
than any one songwriter. We need an industry standard to not let this
happen."
The stakes are high. Music played on animated kids TV shows generates
millions of dollars each year in publishing royalties. According to a
prolific composer, a song can pay as much as $500 per airing, and a
frequently played theme song can generate as much as $250,000 a year in
writers' publishing royalties. Musical cues and other background music
pay much less, sometimes only a few dollars per airing. But the number
of shows -- and their constant re-airing -- can turn even those tunes
into tidy profit centers.
Some composers are calling for the formation of a union to stop company
executives from diluting their screen credits and royalty payments -- a
practice unheard of elsewhere in the industry. The Directors Guild of
America, Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild have strict
rules applicable to their crafts about who is -- and who is not --
entitled to screen credits and residuals.
The Society of Composers and Lyricists has been trying to stop the
practice of diluting composers' credits and royalties, but, as president
Jay Chattaway said, "We're not a union. All we can do is educate our
members and newcomers to the film and television composing business that
this is not the accepted industry practice."
"We definitely need a union," one longtime composer said.
"We've tried to unionize for a long time," said another, "and I think
it's time we revisit the issue."
Some of the biggest studios, including the Walt Disney Co. and Warner
Bros., do not take writers' credits or royalties from music that
accompanies their animated TV shows.
However, for a bottom-line-oriented independent producer and
distributor, the additional sources of revenue can be hard to resist.
Consider Saban Entertainment, one of the fastest-growing, most-respected
companies in its field. In less than a decade, riding the phenomenal,
worldwide popularity of "The Power Rangers," chairman and CEO Haim Saban
and his team have built a mini-major, producing all kinds of big- and
small-screen entertainment, especially for children. Their shows include
"Ninja Turtles," "X-Men" and "Marvel Super Heroes."
Saban's high-octane connections include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and
Fox Studios, where Saban is effectively the children's TV programming
division. That involvement has grown recently with Pat Robertson's sale
of the Family Channel to Fox and Saban. Together, Fox and Saban have
given it a splashy relaunch as the Fox Family Channel. Saban has also
been highly active politically and socially.
Saban Entertainment, a privately held company, does not make public its
revenue or profits. It also has a joint venture with Fox in the Fox
Children's Network.
Few forms of programming work better than animatndless variety of lengths. That
means a good deal of
writing credits and royalties.
At Saban, a number of TV composers complain that they must give up their
royalties, which often means that Saban executives are taking writing
credit for their work. Several composers interviewed said Saban's
upfront payments are not any greater -- and may even be less -- than
what a major studio pays, though Saban's deals typically do not include
royalties.
Haim Saban strongly denies that he, president Shuki Levy or the company
have done anything wrong. Saban said in a brief phone conversation with
The Hollywood Reporter that all he or his associates have done is what
any smart businessman would do to maximize their returns. "Our music
employees involved in all entertainment genres -- including theatrical
features, television movies, live-action television series, animated
series and game shows -- are compensated in accordance with industry
standards and receive appropriate screen credit for their work," a Saban
spokesman said Wednesday in a statement.
A check of songwriting credits listed by ASCAP and BMI, the music
industry's leading performing rights societies, shows that Saban and
Levy are an extraordinarily prolific songwriting team. The societies
credit them with having written or co-written more than 1,600 TV tunes,
themes, musical cues and songs.
Saban, who began his career as a manager and promoter of musical acts,
has written many songs and co-written others with Levy.
According to his biography, Levy met Saban in his native Israel. They
worked together in France, where Levy was on TV and worked as a singer
and songwriter. Described as "a passionate and prolific musician," Levy
says he has composed themes for more than a dozen movies and some 130 TV
shows and has 15 gold and platinum records. Levy also has written,
directed and produced for Saban, including the family film "Rusty: A
Dog's Tale." He was co-director, exec producer, co-writer and composer
on the second "Power Rangers" film, "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie,"
released by 20th Century Fox.
However, a number of composers have told The Hollywood Reporter that
they wrote hundreds of tunes credited to Saban and Levy.
Songwriter-producer Ron Wasserman, a Saban composer from 1989-95, wrote
hundreds of hours of music for the company, including the original
"Power Rangers" theme for which Saban and Levy are the credited writers,
he said.
"They put their names on my work," Wasserman said, "and most of the time
they had absolutely nothing to do with it, as far as creating the work
was concerned. Most of the time, I would deliver the score, it would go
to mix and air without the (credited) 'writers' seeing it or hearing it.
That's how it works. It's really that simple."
Wasserman said he wrote the original "Power Rangers" theme in 1992 and
scored background music for the first 152 episodes.
"For that," he said, "I got producer and/or engineer credit. No music-by
credit. No cue-sheet credit. The credit went to Haim Saban and Shuki
Levy. As far as the theme, all Haim did was give it his approval. What
Shuki did, I have no idea. I worked on the theme alone; they contributed
nothing. On the background music, they acted as producers and guided me
extensively on the direction."
Before 1992, Wasserman said, he received no writing credit for songs he
wrote for Saban. After the success of "Power Rangers," he began
receiving credit for songs, though not for scores or themes.
Saban said through a spokesman that Wasserman is incorrect in saying
that he was the sole composer of the original "Power Rangers" theme. The
spokesman said Haim Saban composed the song in 1993.
Wasserman confirmed that Saban's composers knew when they were hired
that "they would not be receiving any of the writing or publishing
credit or any of the royalties due from any of their work."
Those writers royalties, Saban's spokesman said, "are shared personally
by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, who have been composing partners for
nearly 25 years. The company does not participate in the writers
royalties."
"They are upfront that they are going to take your writers (credit) and
your publishing (royalties)," Wasserman said. "They give you the option
of not working there. So it comes as no surprise when you get no writers
share (of the publishing royalties). A lot of people don't like it, but
in this town, with so many composers out of work, they are willing to
give up their writers share in order to keep paying their bills."
Wasserman's experiences at Saban were not unique. Other composers told
The Hollywood Reporter similar stories, though none would agree to be
identified on the record.
A composer who wrote more than 70 cues -- or musical underscores -- for
Saban, said: "I did not receive any credit for the work I did. They put
their names on the (credits), but they didn't write a stitch of it. It
was my music that aired. They said they would be keeping the publisher's
and songwriting royalties from the songs for the shows. Saban does not
give composers writers royalties, and that is not negotiable. I was told
you either accept the deal or you don't work for Saban."
"I never got any credit as a composer," another former Saban employee
said. "They let the composers have screen credit as music arrangers or
music producers, but no royalties flow to music arrangers or music
producers. Haim and Shuki are listed as the writers. That gives them all
the music performance royalties from all the TV shows and, in effect,
takes away the composers' royalties. That's something the composers sign
away."
"Haim Saban and Shuki Levi put their names on music that I wrote," a
current Saban staff composer said. "Haim and Shuki are credited with
writing the music for a show that I wrote, but they never wrote a note
of music for the show."
Chattaway said Saban attracts many young composers trying to break into
the business. "I don't think they realized that certain rights were not
salable," Chattaway said. "They sold rights without realizing what they
were doing."
Some Saban composers receive screen credit and royalties for the songs
they write, particularly those who write songs and scores for Saban
Entertainment movies.
Royalties for music played on television are administered by ASCAP and
BMI. The royalties are designed to flow in two streams, with half going
to the songwriter and the other half going to the music publisher.
One recent Saban contract states that the composer agrees to write
"wholly original" music for the company, with the company designated as
the owner of "all rights of every kind and nature" flowing from the
music.
That is not a new policy. A Saban Prods. contract from 1989 states that
after the company pays the composer his or her initial fee, the company
shall be "free from any additional payments of any royalty, residual or
compensation."
Indeed, work-for-hire contracts the composers must sign state that for
copyright purposes, the company is "the sole author" of their musical
compositions. However, in copyright law, the term "author" does not
necessarily mean the person who wrote the music, but rather it is
another name for "copyright holder." That means the entity putting up
the money is usually considered the author for legal purposes.
Most feature films produced by major studios are works made-for-hire,
and their screenwriters must sign contracts agreeing that the studio is
the "author" of the film. The studios, in fact, file hundreds of
copyright applications every year saying that they are "authors" of the
films, but they have never argued that this entitles studio bosses to
grab screenwriting credit -- at least in part because they have agreed
with the Writers Guild to contractual rules on credits.
Attorney Lon Sobel, a noted copyright expert and former professor at
Loyola Law School, said "the question of who the author is for copyright
purposes does not indicate who is entitled to songwriter credits."
Work-for-hire contracts at many TV animation companies, in fact, do not
strip writers of their share of music royalties.
Kenneth Kaufman, a former record company executive and now a
Washington-based entertainment attorney specializing in music,
television and copyright law, said: "For copyright purposes, if a work
is made-for-hire, the party commissioning the work is considered to be
the 'author' and the copyright owner of the work from the outset. But
for purposes of who is entitled to share in the income derived from the
music publishing rights for that song, the industry custom and practice
is for the person who wrote the song to be paid the writer's share, even
if it is a work made-for-hire."
The contract, however, does not automatically trigger payment of
performance royalties for music writing. To get those royalties, that
person must also be listed as writer of the music on cue sheets turned
over to BMI and ASCAP.
"Cue sheets determine who will be paid for back-end royalties," Society
of Composers and Lyricists president Jay Chattaway said. "But with
Saban, they are taking screen credit and cue-sheet credit for music they
didn't conceive."
ASCAP and BMI officials said they do not investigate who writers of
songs are, but simply pay royalties based on reports they are given by
production companies.
ASCAP vp film and television repertory Nancy Knutsen said: "ASCAP has
75,000 members who compose and publish tens of thousands of works, and
we rely on these members to provide valid and correct information about
those compositions. Unless this information is contradicted or disputed,
ASCAP has no way of determining that what was provided to us is
incorrect, and we are in no position to gauge the veracity of the data
we receive."
Similar practices have occurred in the animation industry, including at
Hanna-Barbera, Harvey and Ruby-Spears (though that may not presently be
the case). It is not uncommon at other companies for key executives to
add their names to the composers' names listed on cue sheets. The deal
at some companies is to give the composer one-third of the writers share
and for the company's top executives to take the other two-thirds.
One such company, Chattaway said, is DIC Entertainment.
"I know that there are people's names on their cue sheets that did not
participate in the creation of the music," he said.
Chattaway and several other composers said DIC president Andy Heyward
sometimes adds his name -- or pseudonyms -- to cue sheets, but said
that, unlike Saban, he does not remove the real writers' names.
Heyward's name appears as co-writer of nearly 500 TV tunes.
In the past, such "sharing" of music credits and royalties in the field
of TV animation was "a common practice," said Steve Winogradsky, a music
attorney who represents film and TV composers and former director of
music business affairs at Hanna-Barbera Prods.
At DIC, which produces shows such as "Inspector Gadget" and "The Real
Ghostbusters," "their current practice is that the composer receives
one-third of the writers share (of music-publishing royalties), with a
DIC executive being named for the other two-thirds," Winogradsky said.
"At Hanna-Barbera, up until about 1990, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera were
listed as co-composers and received two-thirds of the writers income,
with the actual writer receiving one-third. That changed in
approximately 1990, when management wanted to attract higher-quality
composers and were advised that the only way to do that was to give
writers their full share of writers royalties. That's what they do now.
Disney also gives 100% of writers share (to the actual writers). Warner
Bros. gives 100% of the writers share, and so does Universal."
Heyward declined comment. However, Karyn Ulman, vp music at DIC
Entertainment, said: "DIC Entertainment gives screen credit to its
composers. It pays its composers well, but I'm not at liberty to comment
on the individual composer agreements, of which the royalty provision is
part of that negotiation."
"Andy Heyward," she said, "is a writer and has written many songs, and
he is also clearly involved in the direction, style and arrangement of
the music in all of DIC's programs."
Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, co-founders of Ruby-Spears Prods., also
received musical co-writing credits on their animated shows, including
"Dink the Little Dinosaur," "Centurions" and "Turbo Teen." However, they
did share screen credits and cue-sheet credits with the music's
composers.
"Both of us have a musical background," Spears said. "We've both added
to the music. It's something we try to do the best we can. The bottom
line is that you're out looking for the best music. Every show is a
different deal. Sometimes the owner of the property wants to retain the
music rights. It's really something that is tough to quantify or
qualify."Ultimately, many credits and royalty issues are determined by
the clout of the composer. For instance, in 1992 and 1993 on Ruby-Spears
show "Cowboys of Moo Mesa," composer Gordon Goodwin said he was able to
negotiate the deal he wanted: "They tried to take a piece of the back
end, but I had enough leverage and I got all my writers share of the
royalties."
While the practice may be legal, Chattaway believes that the dilution of
screen credits and the signing away of writer's royalties damages all
composers: "It is hurting everybody that some will work under these
conditions. It will ultimately affect those who are not accepting these
conditions and who might be pressured to work under those conditions in
the future."
Alex Ben Block contributed to this report.
Jedi Ranma
Very disheartening news, especially for the field of animation (which I take
close to heart). I wonder if my fave cartoon composer Johnny Douglas ever got
stiffed in this manner (though he is listed as having written the theme songs
and scores to various Marvel productions, but was he being compensated
properly)... @(^.^)@