From tfw2005.com, Anne Bryant composer of various cartoon themes from the 80s including Tranformers, JEM, and other Hasbro properties, is suing for payment and royalties of her work from Sunbow Productions. She is hoping to recover millions for the sales of those themes (especially Transformers) from CDs, VHS, DVDs, and any other license that used those themes. She is also hoping she can get professional screen credit in case her theme is used in the new Transformers movie.
The trivia bit, knowing the name of the composer of the famous theme is nice, but this litigation could effect the music used in the movie. The only reason to really care about professional credits in the context of the money is for the money that credit brings. It wouldn't just be a matter of throwing her name on the screen. There would be a cost attached to using the theme as a result of this litigation. While its possible the film producers could work something out, there really isn't a reason for them to when they can just avoid using the theme entirely. Which is a shame considering the hint of it used for the teaser trailer showed some great potential.
This also highlights something I will never understand about the Hollywood system. At any of other job function under the sun, work for hire usually means that if you create something under the employ of someone else, they own it lock stock and barrel. If they choose to throw some money your way for it, lucky you but they don't have to. Do you really think the team that invented the iPod is getting kickbacks for every device sold? Or the family of the inventors of the TV? Or the Radio? Or any other piece of technology and idea out there? The company may be but rarely the mind that created them.
In Hollywood, usually the actors, producers, directors, singers, composers, etc get kickbacks for everything sold. It could be a half penny per or a percentage of the profits. Many different ways of doing it but it all comes down to them getting a little something for every object sold. This is why the RIAA, the MPAA, singers, actors etc are hammering pirating so much. Because most of the figures used assume a 1 to 1 ratio of every item pirated is one less item sold (nonsense btw) then that is literally money being taken away from them. All this is on top of a negotiated salary, be it $1000 for a movie or the $20 million that some actors get (more nonsense). For the real world, the negotiated salary is it and if your company is kind you might get a bonus.
I bet it must be galling to be apart of the crew of these movies and so forth to create (say the costumes, sets, lightning) basically everything that makes the movie what it is and get no money for it. They get their salary and that's it. They can't sue for that extra bit of money even though their work is on screen just as much as the work of the directors, producers and especially the actors. They get treated like everyone else in the "real" world, while the "talent" gets treated in La-La Land way.
Its just strikes me as odd that Hollywood, music industry etc are all about the business at the end of the day, yet it doesn't run like any business I have ever heard of. I wish the company I worked for operated the way they do, then I might be able to afford a new car with all the kickbacks I would "deserve".
So back to Anne Bryant, probably a minority opinion, but she deserves credit for creating her various themes, but going by the classic definition of work for hire as nearly every business under the sun but Hollywood has, she was hired to create these themes for Sunbow, therefore they are owned by Sunbow and that's it. She doesn't deserve extra money just because their marketing machine was able to make hay out of it. If she wanted to make money for every copy used, then she should have created a contract where she lends them a license to the themes that she owns (say the family that owns "Happy Birthday").
Maybe not fair but then neither are her assumptions of money owed just because others where able to make the theme famous. Do those marketers deserve a kickback to by that argument since she wouldn't be owed millions if they hadn't done their job well?
The lesson is if you want a bit for every piece sold, own it outright, otherwise its work for hire and out of your hands. Unless you work for Hollywood.
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