Pitfalls in contracts

[guitaroboe]

Thanks for the info Matt,
very valuable!
There were 3 separate entities here: myself, the production company, and the cable company.
Unfortunately the cable company wanted to exclude me from all of my writer's shares.
I spoke to my PRO rep in great lengths over this and I was told that the said Cable Channel
is notorious for its behavior towards composers. There are actually 3 lawsuits pending against
them, one of them from PRS itself !!!!
It was a rather unfortunate event, one that made me realize how valuable our work is.

thanks again!

Adonis

[T&V Marino]

Hi Adonis,

Many composers are confused about the terminology of a "buy out." This does not mean you won't get any back-end money. In fact, you would probably have made a nice sum of money for many years to come. You will ALWAYS get your writer's share, no matter what. But in your case, it sounds like a "direct licensing deal" if the cable company dictated that, which is not common. You had a direct link to the source, which is SO tough to get in this business. Once you establish the relationship, and the company trusts you and likes your music, you're in. But, we understand your not wanting to go through with the deal if you won't even get any back-end. That's not typical, and you're right -- that needs to stop.

Regarding this practice, it's becoming more and more common for production companies to do this, yet the composers don't get anywhere NEAR the money you were offered upfront.

Especially starting out, composers don't have a lot of clout and many just need credits. Once you have credits and a proven track record of writing songs that produce income, companies will be seeking you out. However, you're right -- we as composers need to be careful just "giving it away" for almost nothing.

~ Tracey & Vance Marino

[matto]

Many composers are confused about the terminology of a "buy out." This does not mean you won't get any back-end money.

Actually the term "buy-out" usually DOES mean you are not getting any writer's royalties. The term "Work For Hire" usually doesn't (not when it comes to composers anyway). Yes, some people erroneously use the term "buyout" when they mean work for hire (and vice versa) so you do have to check the contract.

As composers, songwriters etc the best we can do is understand and use the correct terminology...but also be aware that others don't always do. This is why reading and understanding contracts is absolutely essential. As is getting professional help when you don't.

[T&V Marino]

RE:

"Actually the term "buy-out" usually DOES mean you are not getting any writer's royalties."

Well...not always. There again, it depends on the music library and the "terminology" in the contract. We're in one music library that describes a "buy out" (and this is their exact terminology) as a set fee agreed upon by the composer and the music library for the client. For example, say the client pays $300 to "buy out" our track. We're cool with it. The music library is cool with it. And the client is cool with it. What this means is that this client has our permission to now use our track for a pre-determined amount of time (1 year, 5 years, in perpetuity, etc.), AND they can use it in any manner they want: in a promo, commercial, corporate video, website, etc. And if they decide to use it in a TV broadcast, we WILL get our writer's share of royalties. We still own the track and the copyright to the track.

We've actually had dozens of tracks "bought out" over the years with this company, and we receive our writer's share when they've been placed in TV shows or commercials by the clients. We had one song "bought out" 6 times by various clients in the past year.

There again, the semantics can make your head spin!

~ Tracey & Vance Marino

[matto]

That's true, I should have specified that when the term buyout is used in custom composition (as in the case of this post) it usually refers to a complete buyout (meaning nothing more for the composer, ever).
In the case of library music, the buyout business model means more or less what you are describing or a variation thereof. It's not really accurate though to describe a termed license as a buyout, that should be called a blanket. A lifetime license on the other hand is often referred to as a buyout.
As I said, always read the contract...

[guitaroboe]

Matt, Vance,

I discussed the issue thoroughly with a specialist attorney provided by PRS
and it seems that Matt is right. Even in Europe the WFH contracts allow the
composer to earn his PRO income. A complete buyout of the music basically
gives away everything.

Just so you know, in my case we ended up settling the issue with a WFH
contract that clearly stipulated that I would still retain my writers share.
I am quite certain that I will never get any more work from that cable company!!!
However, I can live with that because the work I did for them will pay me every time
it gets performed.

thanks for your time and input
Adonis