So the CBC lost the use of the theme for “Hockey Night in Canada” and while no one else will say it I will, shame on Dolores Claman.
That’s right, shame. CBC paid for that song many times over. She received royalties every time it played and after negotiations broke down, went and sold it to CTV. CBC had reportedly offered a million dollars for it and considering they had already paid her millions for its use, I would say they more than ponied up. CTV of course is changing the name of the song to “The Hockey Song” but everyone knows what it really is, “Hockey Night in Canada.”
I think what this shows is the systematic greed in the music industry. By all means pay artists for their work, and pay them well. But only pay them once.
Dolores Claman had an opportunity to become a national hero,if she had sold it for a million. Or probably would have received the Order of Canada if she had donated it to the national archives. Instead she went for greed. What a shame.
She negotiated on the open market and went for what she considered the best price and terms. The latter includes not having to do business with a corporation that, according to her, infringed her copyright by selling her composition for ringtones.
This, Dave, is the free market at work.
Good post.
Hey Joe,
You are absolutely right, they had no right to go and allow people to use that ring tone. But come on, do you think she was hard-done-by by the CBC and the millions of dollars she was paid for the use of that song?
If the CBC was a private company there is no way they would have continued paying royalties for 30 years.
They would have bought the song for $2000 when she and the song were unknowns and gone their separate ways. Instead she got a sweetheart deal for decades and soon as it looked like she wasn’t getting her cut she bailed.
Also by definition, in a free market environment buyers and sellers do not coerce or mislead each other nor are they coerced by a third party. What roll do you think the copyright holdings company had in this game if Dolores DID want to donate the song?
Greed, Joe. Greed & shame.
(Not sure if this post got lost – of, if it’s just in moderation. If this be a dupe, please excuse!)
A blog post from the songwriter’s daughter @ http://madeleinemorris.blogspot.com gives fresh perspective:
The Hockey Theme
I just wanted to thank you, on behalf of my mother, for your support of the hockey theme. I also wanted you to know my side of the story, because it’s important to me. What I hope you will acknowledge is that the CBC has had an exclusive media platform on which to air its side of the story.
First, to clear up some misconceptions. For 25 years, CBC paid my mother no license fees at all for the music. It was only in the last 15 years that they began to pay any license fee at all.
Last week, after more than a year of CBC bullying, threatening and endless changing of positions, we offered the CBC the following deal: forget the lawsuit – just pay our legal fees (which we incurred because of CBC’s breach of usage as agreed in the license deal) and let’s keep the same licensing deal as before. That’s it…same as before. $500 per episode of HNIC. They did not accept.
They kept bullying us, telling us the song was worthless, threatening to drop the song altogether if we didn’t give them exactly what they wanted, absolutely on their terms. If not, they’d hold a national contest and replace the song. Honestly, it became increasingly clear to us that this was their plan all along – to offer deals that were impossible for us to accept, so they would have the excuse to drop the song without being blamed for doing it. On Thursday, they sent us an email rejecting the offer and saying that it was sad we could not come to an agreement.
Then on Friday, Scott Moore of the CBC announced the Song Contest to replace the theme. So, it was clear, for sure, that this was over for us.
My belief is that when it started to become clear to the CBC that the public wasn’t happy with their decision, they announced that they would negotiate further. Frankly, my mother was so depressed, she just said – no, they don’t really want the song. It’s better at least if it dies a dignified death.
When CTV made an offer, they promised that they’d use the song, and they’d use it in association with Canadian hockey. Of all the things, this mattered most to my mother.
I know you are probably upset that we didn’t resolve our differences with the CBC, but no matter what they say publicly, they really, clearly, didn’t give a shit about the theme. Their only concern was they should not be seen to be the villains in getting rid of it. My mother became a very convenient scapegoat.
To a composer, their music is like their baby – they don’t want to see it buried, or forgotten, or sidelined. And my mother, being a rather strong woman, just wasn’t willing to be bullied and threatened any more. A lot of people are going to call her greedy and opportunistic. Well, they just don’t know her at all. It’s going to sound trite if I say that “it wasn’t about the money”. But ask any composer of music if they want to see their work buried, and never played again. It’s easy to focus on the money. But it was never, ever about the money. Life, and people, are just a lot more complex than that.
That’s my side of the story, for what it’s worth.
Madeleine Morris
That is interesting Adrian, thank you for sharing that. I have one question though. If they didn’t pay royalities for 25 years, then why start paying her all of a sudden. Did they purchase the song, or think that they purchased the song?
If it wasn’t about the money, then why not give it to the Canadian Hall of Fame or the national archives. That song is considered as Canadian as the national anthem so she could have easily made sure it was never forgotten. Even better using the GNU lisence drop it on the open market for everyone to download and share.