# Scoring unpaid indie film - any official business to take care of?



## visiblenoise (Jan 18, 2022)

It's my first time scoring something for someone else, and while I have no delusions of gaining anything material from this zero-budget passion project, I'm wondering if there are best practices I should be getting into? Talking about registering with PROs, cue sheets, ?? Luckily it's been a positive experience so far, but the director is just an acquaintance of an acquaintance so we're basically strangers.

I've read enough to be aware of things like PROs and cue sheets, but for something with no prospect of money involved (that I'm aware of), I cannot figure out if people do anything. Do they just have their name on the credits and that's it? The director mentioned listing it on IMDB, finding festivals to enter it into, etc.

Would appreciate any info/advice even tangentially related, if I'm to continue with this media composition thing. Thanks!


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## musicalweather (Jan 18, 2022)

Always have a contract, even if you're not getting paid. In this case I'd recommend that the contract establishes that _you_ own the music and are granting the director / film company a non-exclusive license to use the music in their production. I'm not sure if PRO's and cue sheets will come into play unless the film is broadcast somewhere. An IMDB listing is always good to have.


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## visiblenoise (Jan 19, 2022)

musicalweather said:


> Always have a contract, even if you're not getting paid. In this case I'd recommend that the contract establishes that _you_ own the music and are granting the director / film company a non-exclusive license to use the music in their production. I'm not sure if PRO's and cue sheets will come into play unless the film is broadcast somewhere. An IMDB listing is always good to have.


Hmm, I don't understand the non-exclusive part. Is this so I can reserve the right to use the music elsewhere?


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jan 19, 2022)

visiblenoise said:


> Hmm, I don't understand the non-exclusive part. Is this so I can reserve the right to use the music elsewhere?


Yes, although the producer may not be keen on that. Make sure you keep it non-exclusive if it’s a 100% freebie.


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## chillbot (Jan 19, 2022)

visiblenoise said:


> Hmm, I don't understand the non-exclusive part. Is this so I can reserve the right to use the music elsewhere?


Advice so far is spot on. I would elaborate on two things:

Always have a contract. Contract should state that you own the music (not the film/director). This is non-negotiable because they don't get to own the music for zero dollars, that's not how it works. This means that you are also free to re-use the music elsewhere or put it in a music library, whatever you want to do with it since you own it.

This is what "non-exclusive" means but there are a couple things that should be in the contract that will appease the filmmakers:
1) The license you are granting them to use your music will say something like "in perpetuity throughout the universe in associating with xxx project" or some fancy wording (I don't have a contract in front of me). This means they will always be able to use your music for the project, or for a re-cut, or for promotion, whatever. They don't have to worry about re-licensing it or re-negotiating in the future. In plain english, the music is theirs to use, as long as it's used for this project and not for a new film.
2) You can, if you wish, grant them a window whereas you will not re-use the music for a certain period of time, maybe a year or maybe three years. So that they feel they have the exclusive use of the music (for now), and really who cares if it gets re-purposed two or three years down the line.

A couple other points about the contract:
3) When working for free I would prefer that you charge $1 so that there is actual money that exchanges hands... it tends to make it more official, formal, binding, whatever. Surely they can afford $1.
4) You can get a fancy contract drawn up or find something on the internet and adapt it but really just having something/anything WRITTEN DOWN in plain english that goes over these points is fine and adequate. It doesn't need to be legalese.
5) The contract should clearly state that on the cue sheet you are listed as 100% composer and 100% publisher and your PRO. If you don't have a publisher start one, or you can do it down the line if needed so long as your publisher name is not currently taken. (The contract is also a good place to list how you wish to be credited in the film.)

That brings me to the second point (yes all the above was point one):

Always do a cue sheet. See this post for elaboration. But for a number of reasons including not knowing where the film will ultimately wind up it's always a good idea to do a cue sheet.


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## visiblenoise (Jan 19, 2022)

@chillbot Thanks so much for all the detail! I find it very reassuring.

I had actually seen that thread as it was going and it's what got me thinking about my situation.


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## Gauss (Jan 19, 2022)

Great advice form Jason Graves:


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