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The performance-based royalties will be paid to talent working in front and behind the camera on German Netflix series. The payments will be in addition to wages covered by production companies and based on the number of streams made by the series on the platform.
The creatives involved in German Netflix original series that qualify for the royalties include directors, cinematographers, actors, editors, and make-up artists, as well as set, costume, and sound designers.
A payment is due even if the threshold is not reached within a specified period of time. In this case, a proportional share of the fixed amount corresponding to the number of completers reached is paid.
Sources who attended closed-door meetings that Javier held with composers and songwriters say the attorney sought to reassure those in the room that Netflix does not require buyouts, even if independent producers working with the streaming asked for these terms.
The streaming service is not nearly so generous when it comes to the songwriters and composers that score its programming, however. According to more than three dozen composers, agents and lawyers interviewed for this story, Netflix and other Hollywood players are seeking buyouts via contracts that require composers to give up all or most rights to their work and any future royalties for its use in exchange for a one-time payment.
Composers from other countries, especially continental Europe and Britain, have stronger copyright protections than the U.S. and other parts of the world, but sources say those rights are now being tested as well. Netflix music executives have been meeting with music industry organizations across the continent and in the U.K. to address differences in contracts and compensation models.
SACEM, which was started as a music authors and composers collective in 1851, also collects payments for American composers when their work appears on French television, movie theaters or streaming platforms. SACEM then distributes the royalties to the U.S. performing rights organizations, such as ASCAP and BMI, who in turn pay their members.
In Europe, music industry advocates and composers point to the passage earlier this year of the EU Copyright Directive, which is expected to provide protections to composers as it is adopted over the next two years. Already, there are many questions over how it will be implemented and enforced. One important rule requires streaming services to report streaming data to enable artists to get fair compensation if a show is a success. Unlike major film studios and traditional television networks and cable channels measured by Nielsen, Netflix does not report streaming data to artists.
With the advent of video streaming, actors, writers and even composers that perform their scores have also dealt with new contract provisions spelling out how they will get paid for their work, but they are represented by guilds and unions that advocate on their behalf. Composers were unionized from the 1960s until 1971, but efforts to organize since then have not succeeded.
Netflix is hardly the first entertainment company to pursue buyouts with composers: CBS made an unsuccessful attempt in the 1980s. The Discovery Channel is seeking to directly license music from composers via buyouts as it rewrites terms of contracts with production studios, according to industry sources close to the discussions. Discovery has informed composers and musicians that it will require composers and musicians to sign licensing contracts similar to those used by Scripps Networks Interactive, which it acquired last year, according to the same individuals.
Around the same time, Hebert and his peers started ASCAP, the first U.S. organization to protect the rights of composers and songwriters. Since then, songwriters and composers have received royalties or public performance fees for the commercial use of a copyrighted song or score.
But while Amazon and Hulu self-report how many times a show is streamed, Netflix does not. With the rare exception of major hits such as Bird Box and The Irishman, where viewership is released to the media, lawyers and agents say that Netflix reports only that an episode or film streamed once, even if it was streamed by millions.
But another longtime music lawyer says he discourages clients from directly licensing their music to Netflix. He says the lack of streaming metrics makes it difficult to know how well streaming series are performing in general, which is important in determining a fair buyout price to compensate for no backend royalties.
To manage its increased investment in original content and worldwide expansion, Netflix is ramping up its music legal and business team globally with hubs in London, Amsterdam and So Paolo, Brazil. In the last year, Netflix hired Amy Dunning, the former head of music for Lionsgate, and the streaming service has brought on music licensing veterans from Disney, Sony and Warner Bros.
Sources that attended closed-door meetings Javier held with composers and songwriters say the attorney sought to reassure those in the room that Netflix does not require buyouts, even if independent producers working with the streaming asked for these terms.
Composers from other countries, especially continental Europe and Britain, have stronger copyright protections than the U.S. and other parts of the world, but sources say those rights are now being tested as well. Netflix music executives have been meeting with music industry organizations across the continent and in the United Kingdom to address differences in contracts and compensation models.
To manage its increased investment in original content and worldwide expansion, Netflix is ramping up its music legal and business team globally with hubs in London, Amsterdam and So Paolo, Brazil. In the last year, Netflix hired Amy Dunning, the former head of music for Lionsgate studios. The streaming service has brought on music licensing veterans from Disney, Sony and Warner Brothers studios.
In searching for a tune that would save Max's life, the Stranger Things crew wracked their brains to come up with her favorite song. The answer was Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) by Kate Bush, first released in 1985 (a year before the plot takes place). Fueled by the Netflix sensation, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) ranked among the top 10 most played songs for three weeks in a row on Spotify and iTunes, becoming the most streamed song in eight countries, including the United States and the UK, outshining hits from Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, and Karol G.
The recent success of Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) shows that a quality musical work stands the test of time. It also highlights how important it is for songwriters and performers to manage their rights effectively, in particular, by registering their works with collective management societies, who play a key role in ensuring that those responsible for creating a work receive the royalties for its use.
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