Page 122 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes | Composers’ Societies Past and Present
20, 1945 in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, with Daniele Am-
fitheatrof, David Buttolph, Robert E. Dolan, Adolph Deutsch, Leo Erody,
Hugo Friedhofer, Leigh Harline, Ray Heindorf, Werner Heymann, Arthur
Lange, Edward H. Plumb, Edward Powell, Miklós Rózsa, Herbert Stothart,
Franz Waxman, Charles Wolcott, Roy Webb, and Victor Young serving as
17
members of the organising committee. Max Steiner and Adolph Deutsch
went on to represent the SCA as president and vice-president, Roy Webb as
treasurer and Leonard Zissu acted as legal counsel. In its inaugural meeting
in 1943, the society defined four major purposes of its actions:

(1) To form a Guild, Society, Alliance or League of Composers. No af-
filiation with the American Federation of Musicians is contemplated in
view of the fact that our work is purely creative and does not fall into
any Labor Union category.
(2) To formulate a Basic Agreement between our group, and the Motion
Picture Producers, anticipating the widespread use of our music in Tele-
vision, Slot Movie Machines, Juke Boxes, Radio, and the Concert Halls,
publication problems and general studio relationships.
(3) To survey and analyze the U.S. Copyright Law with a view to devis-
ing amendments which will correct existing inequities. To endeavour to
coordinate our amendments with these being drawn up by many other
groups of individuals, operations, and labor organizations and to pres-
ent an integrated plan to Congressional Committee on Copyrights.
(4) To promote closer relationships between composers and the vari-
ous arts and crafts that contribute to American films. To raise our ar-
tistic standards. 18
To meet these goals efficiently, the SCA established a number of sub-
committees over the years to work on pressing matters. The Contract Com-
19
mittee focused on designing standardised clauses for composers’ contracts.
The Expansion Committee, directed in 1954 by Marlin Skiles, reached out
to TV and radio composers to explore possible overlaps in interests. The
Composers’ Manual Committee, directed in 1954 by David Raksin and
Bernard Herrmann, was assigned the task of developing a “business bible”

17 See: Film Composers’ Committee Announcing the Inaugural Meeting of the Film Com-
posers’ Association [MHL, SCA Collection, Folder 22. Bulletins].
18 Blank letter of the Film Composers Emergency Committee [1943] [MHL.SCA Col-
lection, Folder 22. Bulletins].
19 In 1947 members in the Contract Committee included Daniele Amfitheatrof, Da-
vid Buttolph, Adolph Deutsch, Leigh Harline, Werner Richard Heymann, Arthur
Lange, Edward Powell, Miklós Rózsa, Charles Wolcott, and Edward Plumb.

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