Transformers Theme royalties fight
p2pnet.net News:- With all Big 4 Organized Music cartel demands for cuts in royalty rates in mind, remember the now-famous pop culure Transformers Theme?
After six years of litigation and four appeals won by her in 2006, Anne Bryant, who wrote it, the JEM Theme and feature songs from the JEM TV show, says she wants to transform negative royalty payments into a positive cash balance.
She wants an accounting of, and payment for, performance and publishing royalties she says should have been paid by the producer-publisher, Sunbow Productions, NY, now owned by Loonland AG, Germany.
Bryant, who took her claims to court in New York on December 4, says she’s owed millions of dollars in back royalties, for CD, VHS and DVD sales and licenses she says use her music without paying.
In a statement on Seibertron.com, Bryant says on the eve of the trial she suddenly received a small check from TV Loonland for “music royalties”. But, she states, although it’s an admission of responsibility, it’s a mere, “drop in the bucket”.
She’s is also suing her performing rights society, BMI, citing its “laissez faire position” and claiming among other things, it allowed changes to be made to her song catalogue without her authorization. These resulted in her works, “finding their way into her SONY ATV catalogue, after Sunbow passed on the altered publishing catalogues to the mega-publisher.”
Bryant also claims she wasn’t given credit for her songs in three newlyproduced Transformers television series airing on The Cartoon Network.
“According to Bryant, the long road to trial began when she discovered that her 100% composer`s share of the hugely valuable Transformers Theme music had been reduced to a small fraction in her BMI writer`s catalogue,” says the story, going on:
“Others are being unjustly enriched by my music,” Seibertron.com has her saying. “It appears to me that BMI writers cannot expect their works to be safeguarded by BMI.”
And with the DreamWorks Transformers live action movie slated for release on July 4, 2007, “she also seeks to secure her professional screen credits, in the event that the Dreamworks movie uses her theme,” adds Seibertron.
Meanwhile, “Yahoo! Movies has opened its page for the second Transformers teaser trailer with countdown clock, articles and a finalized version of the previously leaked production picture,” says the TransformersLive blog from whence came the pic, upper right.
(Thanks, Andrew)
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Also See:
royalty rates – RIAA ‘cut artist royalties’ bid, December 15, 2006
Seibertron.com – TF composer sues Sunbow and BMI, December 8, 2006
blog – Yahoo! Countdown to Teaser Trailer, December 15, 2006
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December 16th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
“According to Bryant, the long road to trial began when she discovered that her 100% composerâs share of the hugely valuable Transformers Theme music had been reduced to a small fraction in her BMI writerâs catalogue,” says the story, going on:”
Rumors has it that much record keeping in the music industry is, well. fake, so its not surpring what she claims.
Good luck to Bryant in determining if BMI record keeping and the records on which they are based (such as of radio stations) are above board.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com