Page 128 - 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
crease film composers’ incomes from the international ventures of film
37
companies. As previously noted with Max Steiner’s dissatisfaction re-
garding his earnings from foreign films, composers’ incomes from in-
ternational distribution seemed to have been lower than expected. To as-
sess the situation, the SCA systematically registered royalties received by
their members from ASCAP from foreign countries in 1947, including
cheques received until October of that year. From a total sum of USD
513,663.56 twelve SCA composers – including such prominent and pro-
ductive figures as Max Steiner, Victor Young, Bronislav Kaper, and Franz
Waxman – received a total of USD 2,955.45. Max Steiner’s income alone
accounted for almost one-third of this sum, reportedly for more than 270
film scores. 38
Foreign music and performing rights societies – most notably Brit-
ish organisations such as the British Performing Rights Society and the
British Film Music Society – served as important benchmarks for the
SCA in shaping policies to secure fairer compensation for film compos-
ers. Through comparisons with these organisations, the SCA identified
a significant disparity: its members consistently received far lesser roy-
alties from the American ASCAP than from their British counterparts.
This discrepancy prompted the SCA to release the following pointed
critique:

Yes, we know there is a world war in progress, that incomes are to be
frozen, that taxes are to be astronomical, that gasoline is rationed, that
theatre attendance might drop off. But we also know that The Perform-
ing Rights Society, Ltd., London England, went right on functioning
through the 1941 blitz, and paid more money to American film com-
posers than they received from A.S.C.A.P. for a corresponding period. 39

This discrepancy in royalties arose from the fact that the British Per-
forming Rights Society recognised small performing rights to the re-
spective film composer, and ASCAP did not at the time. Consequently,
the SCA provided its members with standard contractual clauses, mod-
elled after British agreements, that should be included in Hollywood

37 See: Letter from Werner Richard Heymann to Leonard Zissu, Apr. 2, 1948 [MHL,
SCA Collection, Folder 5. ASCAP – Foreign Distribution].
38 “ASCAP Distribution of Royalties received from Foreign Language Countries,” 29
Sept. 1947 [MHL, SCA Collection, Folder 5. ASCAP–Foreign Distribution].
39 “The New A.S.C.A.P. Classification and its Meaning to Film Composers” [MHL,
SCA Collection, Folder 37. Film Composers’ Committee].

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