Rights and clearances - legaleze for a film score

[angopop]

Rights and clearances - legaleze for a film score

An old friend of mine is a filmmaker who has asked me to score his film.

He's going to pay me for my time and work, and I will give him music that he can use without any future headaches.

Basically:

*. He only wants the rights to use the music in the film, and makes it clear that I can still use the music any way I want to outside of the film.

*. I want to give him permission to use the music in any variation on the film that comes up (ie: dvd, vhs, internet, soundtrack, podcast, tv broadcast, etc...)


A few questions for anyone who has done this:

1. How should this be worded and arranged?

2. Are there standard agreements/ contracts that will explain everything. Neither one of us wants to spend $$ on a lawyer.

3. Is there anything else I should be asking or knowing about?

Thanks in advance.

[ubertar]

I just did this recently. Basically, just write it up, containing everything you want in it, as specifically as you can, covering everything you can think of. The way the law works now, a film score is considered a "work for hire", and unlike normal copyright, where the work is automatically copyrighted by the author even w/o being registered, the work is automatically copyrighted by the client. This is a fairly recent change in copyright law. So you must specify that you retain the rights to the work and exactly what rights you want to release.

Write up a draft and send it to the filmmaker and let them go over it and suggest any changes, until you're both happy with it.

[fireproof]

If the movie gets picked up by a distributor you should be paid a bonus and if it gets picked up for dvd release you should get something too unless you are being paid a large amount up front
also if any of your music is included on the soundtrack you should also be paid a fee and get points
if your upfront fee is low there is
another way to do it you ask for a point on the whole movie so you share in the sale
you never know with indie films blowing up and sundance and ifc buying many indie films
it's great that you are working with a friend but
you need a lawyer to work out the agreement to protect you and make sure the terms are fair. it should not cost much and will be worth it.
your music will be an important part of the film and you should share in it's success if it does well
email me and I can tell you what kind of fee's composer's gets on distribution etc
my wife is a music supervisor and did american splendor and the woodsmen.
Adam
fireproof5 at yahoo.com

[krylenko]

This page is rather useful: http://www.thescl.com/site/scl/section.php?id=4913
In fact, I recently used the licensing agreement recently to do exactly what you're describing.

I also checked it against the Don Passman book All You Need to Know About the Music Business, which seems to be pretty authoritative.
So I'm pretty sure that I'm covered with what I put together.

Adam, I'd be interested to know about the fee information you've mentioned.
Mind if I e-mail you?

[angopop]

What I'm gonna do is write the songs and license them to be used in the movie. That way I get to keep the rights and publishing. We agreed that if he makes a certain amount of money, then I will get additional money.

That seems simple and fair to all involved.

Thanks for people's inputs!

-Arthur