On Thursday, Treatment Leisure introduced it will quickly patch Alan Wake to chop David Bowie’s “House Oddity” from the sport’s credit as a result of licensing points. Music has been an issue for Alan Wake earlier than: Treatment needed to pull your entire sport off Steam, Xbox Video games Retailer, and different platforms from Might 2017 to October 2018 because the licenses had been renegotiated. And it’s not solely a Treatment downside. It seemingly occurs again and again: Sega and Obsidian Leisure’s Alpha Protocol, Rockstar Video games’ Grand Theft Auto: Vice Metropolis (Grand Theft Auto 3’s PlayStation 3 launch was delayed, too, over music clearance), 2K Video games’ Spec Ops: The Line, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s upcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Activision’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, and many extra have all had music licensing points.
People who find themselves plugged into the online game business hear about video games being pulled from sale for these causes on a regular basis — one thing that can possible proceed into the long run. However what about different types of media? On Polygon’s Alan Wake information story, commenter VeronicaTriumphant requested a poignant query: “Why does this maintain taking place to video games however it by no means appears to occur to films?”
The reply there’s difficult, and it’s not the identical for all films, TV exhibits, or video video games. Broadly talking, nevertheless, it does occur to different types of media. Jeffrey Cadwell, mental property lawyer with regulation agency Dorsey & Whitney, informed Polygon that it’s extra widespread with older TV exhibits that hadn’t thought-about licensing agreements for, say, streaming platforms like Netflix, which didn’t exist when the exhibits had been created.
“For instance, I do know Bosom Buddies (the previous Tom Hanks present) initially had a track by Billy Joel because the theme, however on DVD and now in syndication, it makes use of a separate theme,” Cadwell stated. “Bringing it extra present, similar challenge with Dawson’s Creek. The important thing when negotiating music licenses is to attempt to get hold of all rights in perpetuity, so that you would not have to return sooner or later concerning format adjustments or reuse charges.”
A Vox report from 2015 stated most fashionable TV exhibits now negotiate for “all attainable makes use of of the track — preliminary broadcast, reruns, syndication, DVDs, worldwide, and on-line streaming.” That’s why we don’t see too many issues with exhibits created after the rise in reputation of streaming platforms.
Normally, producers for these exhibits will change the music if wanted, like in the case of Dawson’s Creek — the enduring theme track, Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Need to Wait,” was changed on streaming providers with Jann Arden’s “Run Like Mad” as a result of licensing points. However that instance itself can be a lesson in how difficult this complete factor might be: Arden’s “Run Like Mad” was truly written for Dawson’s Creek and the producers’ authentic decide for the present’s theme, according to the Huffington Post. Warner Bros. executives ended up altering their minds later, including in “I Don’t Need to Wait” because the theme track when the present debuted. The deal needed to be renegotiated some years later, which is when Dawson’s Creek misplaced “I Don’t Need to Wait.” As a substitute of paying extra money to Cole, they put Arden’s track again in. When Dawson’s Creek hit Netflix in 2020, fans revolted over the removal of the iconic “I Don’t Want to Wait,” Billboard wrote in 2021. In 2021, Dawson’s Creek producers made a brand new cope with Cole; she re-recorded the track so it’s licensed via her and a re-recorded grasp, not Warner Data. And so, the track returned.
Motion pictures are perceived to have an extended shelf life than video video games, or not less than they had been prior to now. Film producers had been extra prone to get a license in perpetuity for that motive. Like in TV exhibits and flicks, the video video games that do get delisted for music licensing points are sometimes older ones that publishers didn’t count on demand a long time later. As a substitute of a perpetual license, video video games are sometimes issued “a extra restricted license,” Schacht stated, that requires the maker to “to come back again to renegotiate – and pay – for added rights once they want them.”
If publishers and studios can’t — or don’t wish to — renegotiate, they’ve bought to tug their sport, or patch out the music. “The infringer might be on the hook for some huge cash and be unable to make use of the music” in the event that they maintain utilizing music with expired licenses, Schact stated.
When you’re searching for the TL;DR, right here it’s: Motion pictures and TV exhibits do have comparable licensing points as video video games, however it normally impacts older exhibits that didn’t safe licenses for residence distribution or streaming. You might not hear about it as usually, as a result of exhibits come and go from streaming providers on a regular basis. However you’ll positively acknowledge it subsequent time you load up Alias on Disney+, only to learn all your favorite sequences have new songs.