Shazbot
10-24-2006, 12:19 PM
Okay, I have a "friend"... I know what you're thinking... Shazbot has a friend?? :p
A year ago this "friend" was auditioning his music for a company producing a new television program in Asia. Over the course of the audition, he produced several different themes and the final test was to score a 3 minute trailer. It was then communicated that my friend was the choice of the company to score the show, and it was a matter of agreeing on a salary.
My friend then found out that the company had gone to a major European "show selling" conference and had used his music as part of the trailer for their presentation. He was a little concerned about that, since they hadn't yet agreed on any salary and he had not given permission for the music to be used for anything other than for the job audition. But since he had word that he was their guy, he didn't sweat it at the time.
However, a few months passed and he had no word from his contact there. He contacted someone else at the company (let's call him Guy B), who told him that the other guy (Guy A) had been fired for embezzling and they had reformed a new company without Guy A. The show hadn't been picked up last year, but they were going to be resubmitting it again and would be in touch with him with any news. He just found out recently (several months later) from news reports online that the show was again promoted at the conference and now has a distributor. He also found a new website for one of the peripheral companies that is involved with the show, and it even had a piece of the trailer, the same trailer with his music. He then contacted the person he had been in touch with more recently (Guy B), to ask what was going on, and Guy B says that they now have an in-house composer doing the job he had been promised for the show which is now in pre-production.
Okay, so the job thing is what the friend would prefer, but apparently that's not happening, but he is more concerned that they've used his music to promote this show, at least twice now, and currently on an active website, and he's received nothing for it, as well as no job.
:samurai:
He wants to know, should he be inclined to bill the company (which he is), what would be fair? By the hour of the time he spent on it, or by the amount of time of the actual music? Is there licensing that comes into play for something that is used in a promotional sense?
No contracts were signed or final agreements made as far as salary, which my friend realizes works against him as far as the job goes, but should work
for him as far as the fact that he never authorized use of the music. In fact, in one of the earlier contacts from Guy A, Guy A mentioned that he had put together my friend's theme on a rough demo of the trailer and apologized because he knew they hadn't asked permission to do so, though he figured it would be okay because it wasn't for public use. Well, wouldn't these conferences and certainly the website be considered public use, or at least professional use, for which people would typically be paid?
Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback about this situation, so I can pass it on to my friend.
Thanks,
Shaz
A year ago this "friend" was auditioning his music for a company producing a new television program in Asia. Over the course of the audition, he produced several different themes and the final test was to score a 3 minute trailer. It was then communicated that my friend was the choice of the company to score the show, and it was a matter of agreeing on a salary.
My friend then found out that the company had gone to a major European "show selling" conference and had used his music as part of the trailer for their presentation. He was a little concerned about that, since they hadn't yet agreed on any salary and he had not given permission for the music to be used for anything other than for the job audition. But since he had word that he was their guy, he didn't sweat it at the time.
However, a few months passed and he had no word from his contact there. He contacted someone else at the company (let's call him Guy B), who told him that the other guy (Guy A) had been fired for embezzling and they had reformed a new company without Guy A. The show hadn't been picked up last year, but they were going to be resubmitting it again and would be in touch with him with any news. He just found out recently (several months later) from news reports online that the show was again promoted at the conference and now has a distributor. He also found a new website for one of the peripheral companies that is involved with the show, and it even had a piece of the trailer, the same trailer with his music. He then contacted the person he had been in touch with more recently (Guy B), to ask what was going on, and Guy B says that they now have an in-house composer doing the job he had been promised for the show which is now in pre-production.
Okay, so the job thing is what the friend would prefer, but apparently that's not happening, but he is more concerned that they've used his music to promote this show, at least twice now, and currently on an active website, and he's received nothing for it, as well as no job.
:samurai:
He wants to know, should he be inclined to bill the company (which he is), what would be fair? By the hour of the time he spent on it, or by the amount of time of the actual music? Is there licensing that comes into play for something that is used in a promotional sense?
No contracts were signed or final agreements made as far as salary, which my friend realizes works against him as far as the job goes, but should work
for him as far as the fact that he never authorized use of the music. In fact, in one of the earlier contacts from Guy A, Guy A mentioned that he had put together my friend's theme on a rough demo of the trailer and apologized because he knew they hadn't asked permission to do so, though he figured it would be okay because it wasn't for public use. Well, wouldn't these conferences and certainly the website be considered public use, or at least professional use, for which people would typically be paid?
Anyway, I'd appreciate any feedback about this situation, so I can pass it on to my friend.
Thanks,
Shaz