QcCowboy

I would like to share an event that happened to me recently. Hopefully, it will allow some of you to get through life without having to go through the difficulty I had to face in this regard.

Around 12 years ago, I composed the score for a short film. I was paid enough, though no contract was signed.

Fast-forward 5 years. The same film maker makes his first large-scale film. Unfortunately, despite his repeated promises that I would be the composer on the project, I was replaced by someone else. Meh, I can live with it.

Fast-forward yet a few more years. This feature film comes out on DVD... and low and behold! the short for which I had written the music is added as an "extra".

The lesson?

REGISTER ALL YOUR MUSIC with ASCAP, BMI, or SOCAN, or whichever performing rights society deals with composers' rights in your country.

DO NOT COMPOSE A NOTE OF MUSIC for anyone without a signed contract specifically detailing what can happen to your music.

As it turns out, I lost the money I would have received from that short film because the producer/director refused to sign my SOCAN cue sheet. He was afraid it would entail more expenses on his part. I finally gave in. Silly me! The film played repeatedly on television, AND in international film festivals on at least 35 occassions. I would have received performing rights payments for ALL of those performances.

On top of that, had I also registered with the mechancial reproduction rights organization here (SODRAC in Canada), ANY and all performances where a copy of the film (tape, DVD, etc...) was used would have given me moneys.

And last but not least, I would have gotten money from the DVD release of the longer film.. simply because my own score to the short film was also on that DVD.

So, the lesson?

Take the 5 minutes it takes to register any and all works of yours that will receive public performance, even if you think it will only be once. You could end up being surprised.