What role do music credits play with regard to film producer's E&O insurance?

Byron Pascoe: Whenever I watch a production, I read all the credits. It’s important that we review credits and recognize all the people involved in any kind of production. With respect to music, it’s important that each song is referenced in the credits if you have told someone you’re getting the rights from that you’re going to include them in the credits.

So, in a music synchronization license agreement or a master use license agreement, or a composer agreement, one aspect of that is how you’re crediting the musicians, the record label (if there is one), the publisher (if there is one), and so it’s important that the credits of a production like a film reference the music. They may say “music by”, referring to the composer, or list all of the songs. Generally, if you’re someone like me who reads the credits of every production, there’s a whole list of songs at the end, and it’s fun to see what music was used in the production.

There are different types of ways you can list the credits. It might say “courtesy of”, referring to a record label or publisher, it usually lists who performed the song, it should list who wrote the song, etc. It’s not going to list all the other instrumentalists or the producer; usually it’s the performer, the writer, and then who is providing the rights, meaning a record label or publisher.

In your agreement with the music owner, it generally says, “these are your credits, but if the credits aren’t there or aren’t right, we aren’t in breach of the agreement.” If there’s a mistake in the credits, you’ll still want the rights to use the music. This isn’t a free pass not to give people credits, but it’s an important part of any agreement where credits are being provided that the agreement says something of this nature.

What sometimes people say is that: if it’s not repetitive or on purpose, it’s OK, but just to be safe and conservative, if you’ve given someone a credit, credit them. And that’s not just for composers or musicians; it’s for anybody who worked on your project. Getting credit is worth something. It can’t pay the rent to be credited but it’s part of the compensation that a composer or musician gets when their music is in a film production.

Byron Pascoe is an entertainment lawyer and partner at Edwards Creative Law

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Related:

• Producer’s E&O clearance procedures
• What about singers performing music in films?
• How much of your production’s format is “copyrightable”?
• eBook: Producer's E&O insurance 101
• YouTube: Errors and omissions insurance (E&O) – Byron Pascoe

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