"They're not crediting us or giving us 20 percent": composers of Halo trilogy sue Microsoft for royalties

[Redaktion]

Composers of the original Halo trilogy have sued Microsoft for unpaid royalties. According to Marty O'Donnell, the music he and his partner created for Halo was licensed and not sold to Bungie. After Microsoft acquired Bungie, the music rights were transferred to Microsoft for 20% of the royalties made from using the music in non-gaming scenarios.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/They-re-not-crediting-us-or-giving-us-20-percent-composers-of-Halo-trilogy-sue-Microsoft-for-royalties.598862.0.html

[Jimtim]

Didn't make a fuss or get legal involved for 20 years. Suddenly "Pay me, pay me!". Yeah.... no.

[vertigo]

Didn't make a fuss or get legal involved for 20 years. Suddenly "Pay me, pay me!". Yeah.... no.

It sounds like they were, at least at one point. But it doesn't matter; they have a right to sue at any time. It's also possible that for a while, they just thought maybe it wasn't making much money, but now with Halo: Infinite and an upcoming TV show, they realize there's a lot more money to gain or lose if they don't take legal action. And regardless of anything else, M$ wasn't holding up their end of the contract, so whether they owe more money or not, they've broken the contract and are liable for that. IMO, they should have to pay a large sum on top of any they're found to owe just for that. Large companies take advantage of and screw people *all the time* and they need to be held accountable and have to pay punitive damages, and not the measly ones that are typical, but significant enough to discourage the behavior.