Okay, guys and gals:
I have finally found out the reason why the music is being changed on not only Quantum Leap seasons, but on -several- older TV shows, both at Universal and other studios as they release these shows on DVD.
And it's bigger than you probably think. I know it's bigger than what I believed.
I live in Los Angeles, and I'm a director (of theater and tv and film) in real life. One of my good friends works for the most popular payroll company in the entertainment world, and is a CPA. She pays a great deal of attention to what is happening financially in the entertainment biz.
She and I are both going to be at a performance of "I Do, I Do" being done by Scott Bakula on May 20th in Beverly Hills. Her roommate is his dresser for the show (not entirely connected to this topic, but it DOES mean I'm going to get to meet him after the show, apparently.)
So while we were talking about Scott Bakula, up came Enterprise and its ending...which brought up the Quantum Leap telefilm and the almost mystical convergence of the fact that Scott is ending a series the same time Bellisario is and the QL telefilm is (possibly) finally getting off the ground.
She turns out to be a big QL fan (as I am--one of the reasons I became a director), and we talked about the seasons on DVD and I mentioned the music changes.
Long story to get here, but she had the answer:
There is a gigantic battle going on between the music record labels (who are, obviously, the ones who own music used in the background--which is where the problems are coming from) and the television studios/movie studios.
The battle is about the fact that technology has created a format of distribution (namely DVD) that no one was aware of or could have foreseen when the rights for these old shows were negotiated before.
In other words, when Universal negotiated the rights for the music in their episodes of QL, they negotiated for the following:
A) using the music in the first run episode
B) using it in reruns of that episode
C) using it in any syndication of that episode
D) using it in any videos of that episode
Read (D) again. They had the rights for the VIDEOS of the episode. And here is where the battle begins.
For the music labels are saying, "You only have the rights for the VIDEOS. DVD's are different. Pay again or you can't use the music."
The movie studios/tv studios are saying, "NO ONE KNEW ABOUT DVD's at the time of these negotiations...but the idea of paying for video rights IMPLIES paying for 'professional recorded versions for home viewing'...which DVD is just as video is. So our negotiations should cover the DVD's already, for releasing a DVD is the same thing as releasing a Video. It's merely a different style of format, but the same PREMISE."
The labels are refusing to acknowledge it, as they want more money and realize that these older TV shows--created before DVD's came along, of course--are a sudden cash cow.
The studios are refusing to pay again, believing (and in my opinion, correctly) that if the label has already been paid for 'home viewing', the DVD's ought to fall under that banner without the studios having to pay all over again, especially for shows that are old enough to only guarantee a limited revenue return (and face it, most of the old shows being released are only bought by the 'fans' of that show. I love QL...but it's true, regardless).
The labels, in response to the studios, are asking for MORE money than before, including (for many shows) asking for more for the DVD rights than they did for the VIDEO rights...even though the shows are now 10 years older than they were the first time.
The studios, hearing this, are digging in their feet and ONLY paying for music if it's absolutely, 100% crucial to the episode.
And the customer, as is often the case when legal battles begin, is getting the short end of the deal. AND, worse still, according to my friend the battle is long from over.
As much as it may hurt to hear it, the song at the end of MIA is not crucial to the story. It's -thematically- stronger than the weird music they put there. It's -nostalgically- the correct choice, as it's what was there the first time. But it's not the same as the songs that remained the same in the disc-jockey episode. It's not the same as it would be if Sam could suddenly not sing 'Imagine' in the Leap Back (and I have not yet heard anyone say they've cut that scene in Season 3.) The song at the end of MIA is something that Universal felt it could cut. Would I have done differently? Probably. Can I understand the studios refusal to pay -again- for what is essentially a mere technology format difference? You bet.
That's the reason, folks. She showed me memos she's received and emails from CPA's she knows in the music industry to prove it.
Hope that at least explains things more effectively.
I have finally found out the reason why the music is being changed on not only Quantum Leap seasons, but on -several- older TV shows, both at Universal and other studios as they release these shows on DVD.
And it's bigger than you probably think. I know it's bigger than what I believed.
I live in Los Angeles, and I'm a director (of theater and tv and film) in real life. One of my good friends works for the most popular payroll company in the entertainment world, and is a CPA. She pays a great deal of attention to what is happening financially in the entertainment biz.
She and I are both going to be at a performance of "I Do, I Do" being done by Scott Bakula on May 20th in Beverly Hills. Her roommate is his dresser for the show (not entirely connected to this topic, but it DOES mean I'm going to get to meet him after the show, apparently.)
So while we were talking about Scott Bakula, up came Enterprise and its ending...which brought up the Quantum Leap telefilm and the almost mystical convergence of the fact that Scott is ending a series the same time Bellisario is and the QL telefilm is (possibly) finally getting off the ground.
She turns out to be a big QL fan (as I am--one of the reasons I became a director), and we talked about the seasons on DVD and I mentioned the music changes.
Long story to get here, but she had the answer:
There is a gigantic battle going on between the music record labels (who are, obviously, the ones who own music used in the background--which is where the problems are coming from) and the television studios/movie studios.
The battle is about the fact that technology has created a format of distribution (namely DVD) that no one was aware of or could have foreseen when the rights for these old shows were negotiated before.
In other words, when Universal negotiated the rights for the music in their episodes of QL, they negotiated for the following:
A) using the music in the first run episode
B) using it in reruns of that episode
C) using it in any syndication of that episode
D) using it in any videos of that episode
Read (D) again. They had the rights for the VIDEOS of the episode. And here is where the battle begins.
For the music labels are saying, "You only have the rights for the VIDEOS. DVD's are different. Pay again or you can't use the music."
The movie studios/tv studios are saying, "NO ONE KNEW ABOUT DVD's at the time of these negotiations...but the idea of paying for video rights IMPLIES paying for 'professional recorded versions for home viewing'...which DVD is just as video is. So our negotiations should cover the DVD's already, for releasing a DVD is the same thing as releasing a Video. It's merely a different style of format, but the same PREMISE."
The labels are refusing to acknowledge it, as they want more money and realize that these older TV shows--created before DVD's came along, of course--are a sudden cash cow.
The studios are refusing to pay again, believing (and in my opinion, correctly) that if the label has already been paid for 'home viewing', the DVD's ought to fall under that banner without the studios having to pay all over again, especially for shows that are old enough to only guarantee a limited revenue return (and face it, most of the old shows being released are only bought by the 'fans' of that show. I love QL...but it's true, regardless).
The labels, in response to the studios, are asking for MORE money than before, including (for many shows) asking for more for the DVD rights than they did for the VIDEO rights...even though the shows are now 10 years older than they were the first time.
The studios, hearing this, are digging in their feet and ONLY paying for music if it's absolutely, 100% crucial to the episode.
And the customer, as is often the case when legal battles begin, is getting the short end of the deal. AND, worse still, according to my friend the battle is long from over.
As much as it may hurt to hear it, the song at the end of MIA is not crucial to the story. It's -thematically- stronger than the weird music they put there. It's -nostalgically- the correct choice, as it's what was there the first time. But it's not the same as the songs that remained the same in the disc-jockey episode. It's not the same as it would be if Sam could suddenly not sing 'Imagine' in the Leap Back (and I have not yet heard anyone say they've cut that scene in Season 3.) The song at the end of MIA is something that Universal felt it could cut. Would I have done differently? Probably. Can I understand the studios refusal to pay -again- for what is essentially a mere technology format difference? You bet.
That's the reason, folks. She showed me memos she's received and emails from CPA's she knows in the music industry to prove it.
Hope that at least explains things more effectively.
