Page 134 - 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
arrangements had been made, concessions usually granted only to the most
distinguished composers.
To counter this inequity, the SCA drafted suggested clauses for stand-
ard contracts, particularly for studios with affiliated publishers, to raise
awareness among composers and increase their negotiating power. One
striking clause in these drafts stipulated that if a producer failed to publish
the composition within 90 days of the film’s release, copyright to the music
could be claimed by the composer: 59

It is further agreed with respect to musical compositions other than
popular musical compositions, that if PRODUCER shall have failed to
publish such a composition within ninety (90) days after the release of
the motion picture, COMPOSER shall have the right, to be exercised
by notice in writing to be given jointly to the PRODUCER and pub-
lisher within thirty (30) days thereafter, to procure a re-assignment of
the copyright and all rights in such musical composition excepting the
‘motion picture and synchronization rights’ with respect to the motion
picture in which such musical composition shall have been so record-
ed and used. 60
The inclusion of this very clause from the SCA’s proposed standard
contract might have provided Franz Waxman with the opportunity in 1956
to publish excerpts from his music to Crime in the Street (Allied Artists,
1956) under the title Theme, Variations, and Fugato with his own publish-
ing company Fidelio Music.
61
Conclusion

An examination of records from composer societies such as the SCA proves
particularly revealing for understanding musical practices in the rapid-
ly changing media environment of the twentieth century. The SCA’s files
highlight four major areas that shaped the lives and professional identities
of film composers in mid-twentieth-century America: first, the disintegra-
tion of musical professions, which compelled many musicians to work si-
multaneously across industries as composers, arrangers, and performers;

59 “Draft containing proposed standard clauses of composer-producer term contract
for a major studio and/or a studio with publisher affiliation” [MHL, SCA Collection,
Folder 31. Contract Committee].
60 Ibid., 3.
61 For the aesthetic and ontological implications of this publication see: Zechner, Franz
Waxman, 370–1.

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