Re: film music rights,icensing etc.(OT).

["Rick Walker" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Dear Zoe,

I was all prepared to write back a lengthy reply to Luis's queeries about 
providing music for a film
without financial compensation and then read your wonderful and spot on 
analysis of the situation.

This is so succinctly and articulately laid out that I"m going to save it 
and show it to students of mine
when the same subject comes up for them (with your permission,  of course).

I only wanted to add one thing about this whole subject.  Luis


When someone makes a professional film or puts on a artistic dance concert 
or tour,  there hope
is that they will , ultimately, be successful,  i.e., that they will make 
money from it eventually and
hopefully, that it will be such a success that they'll make a lot of money 
for it.

Anyone who is ethical about asking another artist to use their work in the 
capacity of helping their
own artistic project should always include a clause in a contract (even 
if, 
initially,  no money changes
hands at all) that says,   if the project is 
successful......................what compensation will be
made to the artist (you) whose work they have used , precisely because 
they 
want their project to
be better recieved.

If the filmaker, in such a case,  is reluctant to name a financial figure, 
then standard practise is that you should agree to
some kind of percentage point system as compensation if something becomes 
successful.   Because filmakers will
then need to negotiate their own new deals with distritutors and , 
possibly, 
new publishers or film studios, they have to
deal with what kind of compensation they need to negotiate later on down 
the 
road if the big boys and girls step in
to take the project to the masses in a big way.    Consequently,  it's on 
them to figure out what kinds of points
to assign.


Basically,  someone in this situation is asking you to forgo payment for 
your hard earned piece of music
because there own resources are limited.    What is de riguer in such a 
situation,  then,  is that since they
are asking you to sacrifice your artistry in the present time for no 
compensation that they will reward
you more highly later for taking that risk if the project is successful.

This is standard practise in most businesses and is very fair.

So the fact of the matter is,  you should ask yourself,   what kind of 
compensation would you need in order not to feel taken advantage of
if:

1) the film disappears without a trace after release
2)  the film has a huge buzz about it (insuring that the filmaker will 
make 
more films in the future and have more
chances to be successful financially, themselves) but makes very little 
actual money (this happens a lot more than actual financial success
 or
3)  the film is a runaway success (Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, et. 
al.) and makes shitloads of money


Communicate this clearly to the film producers and figure out what's fair. 
Remember,  they'll make whatever money they
make if it's some kind of success (either with buzz and no moolah,  or 
with 
buzz and loads of moolah)

and, all of this being said and done:

it sometimes is good just to be able to say to ANY filmaker,   "Yes, I 
placed a song in such and such a film , no matter how successful or
unsuccessful the film was."   just because it speaks to your knowledge, 
experience and credibility in getting more work.

Right now,  Zoe is in the position to be fending off lots of these offers 
(most of which have no potential to earn income) but you
may not be where her career is right now yourself.
In other words,   it doesn't matter if you get no compensation as long as 
you are happy with the result and it helps you in some
way (even sometimes,  just helping your own ego that someone wants your 
music).

I contributed a track to the documentary film/DVD of the life of Robert 
Anton Wilson and did it completely gratis with no future stipulations but 
I 
was
fine with it and, actually , having seen the career of two or three 
artists 
whose careers I always admired become mired in the very intense and all 
consuming world
of major motion picture scoring to the detriment of their own individual 
artistry,  I was pretty clear that I didn't want to go there in my career.
but, that being said, it has actually helped me get more work (and, maybe 
just as importantly,  more cred with people I may work with in the future) 
and just for
a bit of buzz it was worth it to me.................it was also premade 
music so I didn't have to take extra time to write , record and produce 
something
new.

To me,  what the music business, the film business and the book publishing 
business tend to lack  these days is a strong
morally ethical basis for doing business.  It's endemic in all three of 
these artistically oriented businesses.

   It's assumed, cynically, that there are so many artists jumping through 
hoops
for their 15 minutes of time in the spotlight that people can be taken 
advantage of without anyone protesting.

To me, personally,  anyone who is not willing to share their wealth and 
fame 
for a collaborative project just isn't worth doing business
and yet, in a heartbeat,  I"d probably score the next Paul Thomas Anderson 
film for free, myself (especially after that odd and inappropriate score 
that graces his last film......................... of course,   Paul 
hasn't 
approached me about that yet...........<rue smile>
He hasn't called yet, of course.

good luck,Rick