TV commercials and licensing

[fragchamp]

I've heard that buyout deals are prevalent in the world of audio for TV commercials, but I heard it said that one of the positives about this is the lack of a contract. I don't understand this. How can someone lose the rights to their composition without signing it over? Won't you need a contract whichever way you do it? (buyout, time limited, non exclusive..)

[soundguydave]

Originally Posted by fragchamp

I've heard that buyout deals are prevalent in the world of audio for TV commercials, but I heard it said that one of the positives about this is the lack of a contract. I don't understand this. How can someone lose the rights to their composition without signing it over? Won't you need a contract whichever way you do it? (buyout, time limited, non exclusive..)

I've never heard of that. Maybe what they mean is that you don't need a complicated contract with end dates and limitations on where it can air.

[Sonsey@mac.com]

Perhaps what they meant was ONGOING or repeating contracts... In a time limited license deal, when the window of use is expired, another contract must be drawn up to cover any re-use, which can get rather complicated depending on what and how it's re-used (most ACTRA/SAG/UDA deals are like this). A buyout is one contract once, and it's done, as a rule.... Of course that contract can be extraordinarily complex or very simple depending on the situation.

THE NOT SO FINE PRINT:

I an NOT an entertainment lawyer, the above is simply my experience and should not be construed as any sort of LEGAL advice. When in doubt about ANY legal issue impacting you, consult a qualified attorney.

[Rick Sanchez]

Originally Posted by fragchamp

I've heard that buyout deals are prevalent in the world of audio for TV commercials, but I heard it said that one of the positives about this is the lack of a contract. I don't understand this. How can someone lose the rights to their composition without signing it over? Won't you need a contract whichever way you do it? (buyout, time limited, non exclusive..)

Here is my understanding although you should speak with an attorney with intellectual property/copy write experience before signing anything.

I assume you are talking about licensing music. There are a number of options.

1. Some companies sell you a library that you can use for whatever purpose you want. You own the library and the rights to use it in your projects without further licensing. You don't own the composition itself. For musical pieces cue sheets are still a requirement. Very rarely will you find anything stunning in these libraries. Often called Royalty Free music. If it's used in broadcast, BMI/ASCAP etc still collect royalties and pay them out to the composer. The big problem with commercials is that tracking usage is very difficult and they just don't have the resources to do it.

2. You license music for a specific use and/or specific time frame, type of media (TV, film, radio, DVD, CD Rom, Video Game, internet) or all media for perpetuity. Usually these are non-exclusive agreements so the composer/publisher can license that same piece of music to any number of clients. Rates vary widely from $50. per cue to hundreds of thousands for a song by a major recording artist.

3. Work for hire. You still are the composer, but depending on your clout, you may be signing over some or all of your publishing rights to the employer. Try not to do that.

Contracts for many of these are very short, one page documents or even implied (by using this music you are agreeing to these terms). In any case, you should make sure to get good cue sheets from the production company and submit them to BMI/ASCAP, etc.

[fragchamp]

Ok, thanks that makes more sense.

I'm in the middle of doing the audio for my first commercial. Involves sound design and background music. They will be looking for a buyout and I doubt I can get much more than $500 for it. IMO it turned out pro sounding so I'll ask about licensing options for the music and hope they don't get too annoyed.

[sonnykeyes]

If it's for a commercial, cue sheets aren't going to help. BMI and ASCAP (as was previously mentioned) don't track commercial music.

When you were told that 'buyout deals are prevalent' in advertising, was it perchance the person who wanted to buy your music out that told you? I've been doing commercials for 20 years, and there's either an AFM contract stipulating what players, how many spots, how long they play for, what region(s) they play in etc. or there's Stock Music, which often has almost as much detail on their contract, although a much lower price. I used to hear about a company where they would do 'favors' for preferred clients by writing custom scores and calling them 'Stock Music,' usually in exchange for the goodwill that netted them big AFM jobs later.

There's also the license deal, usually for a well-known 'needle-drop' track, with a detailed contract and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out.

Getting $500 for a pro-sounding job sounds awfully low to me, but you're probably dealing with someone on the periphery of professionalism. If you get a good piece for your reel that helps you get proper paying jobs, that's one thing, but if you just keep selling great tracks for $500 buyouts, then you'll just p*** all the other composers off.

Sonny Keyes
Ricochet Audio
Toronto