CBC's new Hockey Night in Canada song contest

I cannot believe the stuff I am reading on this blog.

http://blog.fawny.org/2008/06/23/hric/

$100,000 buys all conceivable rights

You can’t rely on a music collective like SOCAN

Many musicians are members of recording collectives like SOCAN. (Canada has dozens of copyright collectives, many of which deal with music.) You absolutely may not enter the contest if your entry would fall under the rubric of one of those collectives: “Entrants must warrant that… the theme submitted, including the performance of it, is free and clear of any obligations under any agreement, including an agreement with a music publisher or record label [or] an agreement with a collective.”

You still have to do promotion

Even if you lose or don’t make the finals or semifinals, CBC may still “require” you to “participate in any activity relating to the Program including, without limitation, recordings, interviews, appearances, promotional, and publicity activities.” Did you book enough time off work for that? Because they implicitly do not have to pay you.

They can change the rules at will

If you enter the contest, you authorize CBC to change the rules in any way they want for any reason at all: “CBC reserves the right to change the structure, process, timing, duration or any other aspect of the competition at its discretion. CBC reserves the right to amend the competition rules or terminate the competition at any time.” You sign over rights under a deal the other side can change but you can’t.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080620.TRUTH20/TPStory/TPSports/Television/

This contest is aimed at amateurs: “ ‘The ideal endgame would be a fabulous piece of music composed by an 11-year-old from Red Deer,’ Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, said.”

CBC entry rules

Fair Copryright for Canada facebook group

Hockey Night in Canada fiasco

http://www.hockeytheme.com/ IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE – Open letter from John Ciccone – Publishing Copyright Editor

“I've been told by the CBC lawyer and executive "I could give a kid in his basement with a synthesizer 20 grand and own the song for life"... I confess, it wears you down. We only fought for that because you [fans] told us differently. “

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/sports/080609/s060974A.html
[Scott ] Moore (head of CBC Sports) said he didn't think "Hockey Night in Canada" would lose viewers along with the song.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/polls/hockey-night-theme.html
Can Canada go on as we know it without the Hockey Night in Canada theme?
3357(84%) vote no

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/sports/080609/s060974A.html

Even celebrity hockey fans like Mike Myers of Austin Powers fame weighed in on the controversy, describing the song as part of the "fabric" of his life.
"It feels like the second anthem, 'Hockey Night in Canada,"' Myers told a news conference.

http://www.macleans.ca/canada/opinions/article.jsp?content=20080611_34949_34949&page=2

"We used to introduce the tune by getting people to stand for 'our national anthem,' " Underhill said. "On European tours, people would totally buy it until Stich broke into the hockey commentary. 'This is Canada's national anthem? Oh.' "

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/sports/article.jsp?content=20080611_114222_114222&page=3

“As a songwriter, Claman still held copyright on the tune, and Ciccone suggested she seek a licensing agreement from CBC, the first of three deals that would eventually pay her $500 every time the song aired on CBC, with ancillary payments for other uses. The deal, according to CBC, was worth $65,000 to Claman last year, not counting separate agreements for use of the song she made with other parties.”

http://www.hockeytheme.com/ IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE – Open letter from John Ciccone – Publishing Copyright Editor

“No-one was suggesting that they throw their money into a hole in the wall. It would also give CBC complete control over how or where the song was used.”
[If it was purchased they could licence it out to movies and sell it as a cellphone jingle. All going towards recovering and eventually earning money in the years to come]
“Mr. Moore doesn't mention this in his public statements. Nor does he indicate that he had numerous choices. Not just a purchase option.”

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/moore/2008/06/you_should_be_hung_for_treason.html

"You should have paid the composer anything she wanted. There's not a taxpayer in the country who would have objected."
“First, we don’t spend taxpayers’ dollars at Hockey Night in Canada. It’s fully funded by sponsors and we’re expected to make a profit to help fund other projects for the network. If we make a smaller profit, other projects suffer.
Second, if we did spend over $2.5 million dollars for a song, I’m pretty sure I could find one or two taxpayers who might have objected anyway.
But the problem was both an emotional and business one. I loved our old theme – I had it on my iPod. But it’s not the reason people watch on Saturday nights. It may help them enjoy the experience, but it’s not the reason they watch. Was the song worth something? Absolutely. But there has to be a limit to what you’ll pay. We were prepared to pay what we have before. But as it turned out we could not outbid CTV for what they were prepared to pay for it”

http://www.hockeytheme.com/ IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT PAGE – Open letter from John Ciccone – Publishing Copyright Editor

“...we had four parties approach us to buy the song.”
“I accomplished more with CTV than I could in six years with the CBC.”
“I did not go back to the other 3 parties. We had no desire to start a bidding war. By now, it was just a light at the end of the tunnel that finally wasn't a train. Let us off.”

http://www.hockeytheme.com/FrameRChronology.htm
Dropping the song at the first hint of rebellion

• Friday, June 6th, 8:06 pm - From Mr. Moore:

"It's too bad we're at where we are.

We were prepared to meet Monday if you could give us any indication as to whether the offer on the table was acceptable.

Any response from you could have kept negotiations going.

Have a good weekend."

Friday, June 6th, 8:59pm - From me:

"That was quite unreasonable, Scott. You gave us less then 24 hours and you know that my client is 5 time zones away. Not meeting unless we agreed to your offer sort of renders the meeting meaningless."

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/sports/article.jsp?content=20080611_114222_114222&page=4

“While he did not return repeated requests for interviews from Maclean's, Moore suggested in other interviews that Claman wanted to end the marriage as badly as the broadcaster.”

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Official Facebook group

The spin Cycle. By John Ciccone

Chronology of events according to John Ciccone