Cinema Law: I Shoot, He Scores

by Jeremiah Reynolds | Published October 20, 2009

Welcome to “Cinema Law,” MovieMaker.com’s all-new blog where you ask the questions of our resident team of legal experts and, each week, they’ll provide the answers to your production queries. Have a burning question yourself? E-mail it to and your question may just be on next week’s blog! Cinema Law is presented as general information only and is not meant to take the place of professional legal advice.

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?

A: Since you will not be using the score of the original composer in your film (I’m assuming the new composer started from scratch and did not in any way use the original composer’s work), the answer to your question is governed by the terms of your agreement with the original composer (as opposed to copyright law). Specifically, the question is whether your agreement gave you the right to approve the score before being required to pay for it. The only information you provide about the agreement is that “[t]he original composer agreed that he’d be paid after the score was completed and I’d had a chance to listen to it...” This appears to imply that you had the right to approve the score before being required to pay for it. But I unfortunately cannot give you a definite answer to your question without knowing more about your agreement. Was your agreement in writing or was it oral? If it was in writing, does the agreement state that you had approval rights over the score? If your agreement was oral, what was agreed to regarding your obligation to pay for the score if you disapproved of it? These are the questions a court will ask to determine whether you have any obligation to pay the original composer for his score.

Jeremiah Reynolds is an associate at Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert, a high-profile, L.A.-based entertainment litigation firm, and specializes in complex business litigation, particularly upon entertainment related litigation and contractual disputes. Reynolds’ experience includes disputes relating to motion picture and television distribution rights, merchandising and licensing rights, profit participation and other accounting issues, contractual disputes and intellectual property disputes. In 2006 and 2007, Reynolds was named a “2006 and 2007 Southern California Rising Star” by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., 1997) and received his J.D. from the University of Southern California in 2002.

The answers to legal questions provided by the lawyers of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert, LLP ("KWIKA") are for general education and information purposes only, and are not legal advice or legal opinions. The information provided in the articles is not intended to create a lawyer-client relationship between KWIKA and you. The opinions expressed in the postings are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the opinions of KWIKA, its employees or agents.

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by RG on 10/20/09 at 11:12 am

What are the legal repercitions of pulling a fake gun in public by one of the actors on a independent no permt production?

Comment by Jun on 11/21/09 at 6:31 am

Makes sense and well done job on explaining it in laymen terms!

Comment by Jack Courtney on 12/01/09 at 2:05 am

I must also say yes, you have the right to decide whether you should pay or not.  For products, it would be very easy to decide when in terms of paying it or not. It’s a different discussion if the contract or transaction involves selling of service.

The logic behind that is what if you’re not satisfied with the job of your first composer?  You need to raise an additional amount of money to pay another person to work for you? So basically, it’s an additional cost on your part.  That’s why you could refuse to pay the first worker and hire another worker again to accomplish the unfinished job.  This decision is assuming that there are no further conditions between you and your worker.

Comment by Rick on 12/22/09 at 3:32 pm

Sounds like good advice.

Comment by John De Vera on 1/30/10 at 6:42 pm

It’s quite clear that you need to protect your right as a buyer of service.  You’re absolutely after of the quality of his/her work so if doesn’t meet you expectation, you can still find a replacement.

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