Cinema Law: I Shoot, He Scores

By Jeremiah Reynolds
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/blog/item/cinema_law_scoring_a_film_hiring_a_composer_20091020/
Q: After the original composer for my film submitted his score, I found it to be almost unlistenable and rejected it. I hired a new composer to score the film, and this time the music worked much better. The original composer agreed that he'd be paid after the score was completed and I'd had a chance to listen to it, but since I thought he did a horrendous job, I refused to pay him and now he's threatening to sue me. Do I still need to pay him the original amount, or since his work was less than adequate? Is there something else I can do alleviate the situation?