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New Committee Gives Approval for Little Orchestra Home Video

Volume CII, No. 12December, 2002

David Lennon

On Oct. 19, the Little Orchestra Society videotaped its popular Lolli-Pops children’s concerts for home video release. The orchestra’s Local Oversight Committee approved the project and negotiated the terms.

Local Oversight Committees are a new provision of the AFM Audio Visual and Internet agreements. Orchestras form these committees, which are made up of musician and management representatives, to determine some of the terms for certain recording projects. The Little Orchestra’s committee began talks last summer and reached agreement in mid-September.

Management, which had long hoped to produce home video projects, made clear its intent for this to be the first of several to come. A new provision of the Audio Visual agreement that allows the Local Oversight Committee to set payment at 48 percent of the per-service performance fee made the project feasible. The agreement does, however, still maintain its permanent member clause requiring payment to all rostered musicians.

Such payment would be in addition to other payments due musicians, such as imprint credits, outlined separately in the Audio Visual agreement.

In addition, musicians will participate in revenue sharing after the license period between the orchestra and Bard Enterprises Ltd., the producer and distributor of the video, has expired.

The agreement allows the orchestra to license the product to a third party that will produce the video. Orchestra management still bears the cost of the live concert and retains control of the product.

The Local Oversight Committee also agreed that in all future home video agreements, musicians would share revenue upon recoupment of the costs incurred producing the video, regardless of any license agreement that might exist between the employer and a third party.

Other aspects of the agreement address news and promotional use, notification to musicians, payments due beneficiaries and dispute resolution.

Melanie Bradford, Howard Hall, Susan Jolles, David Wakefield and Assistant Director David Lennon are the musician representatives on the committee.

The orchestra ratified the agreement unanimously.