"secure credit" clause in Film/TV contract?

[devin]

Hey gang, I haven't seen this exact phrase before...and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this? Here's the phrase:"(music library) shall use best efforts to secure a credit, however, the inability to secure or the absence of such credit for whatever reason shall in no way be deemed to be a breach of this Agreement."My first guess is this phrase means "if your name doesn't scroll by at the end of the film/TV project for the music we used, we still tried to get your name to scroll by, but all other aspects of our agreement stay in effect regardless."It's for an exclusive deal for a bunch of songs in a library that's new to me. There's a buyout up front, with 100% writers share collected on the back end for me by my PRO, the library keeps any sync fees and publishing.

[chriscarter]

You are correct.

[devin]

Holy response time Chris...thank you!

[Casey H]

Yes, you understand it right. They will try to get you a credit but for a variety of reasons, it might not happen. So they don't want any legal liability if your name doesn't appear. Also, some types of uses do not get screen credit anyway.When I've been offered library contracts, I've sometimes asked them to ADD a similar clause whereby they say they will make "reasonable effort" for screen credit. Many library contracts make no reference at all to screen credit. Phrases like "reasonable effort" or "best effort" are lawyer's way of saying they'll try.So having this in the agreement can only be a positive, no negative... No one could ever guarantee a screen credit.Good luck,Casey

[devin]

Thanks Casey!