Original Halo Composers Sue Microsoft Over Unpaid Royalties And It Could Delay The Paramount TV Show

gameinformer.com:

The original composers for Microsoft’s Halo franchise are suing the company over unpaid royalties that go back as far as 20 years, according to a new report from Eurogamer. 

Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori are also exploring the option of securing an injunction on Paramount’s upcoming Halo TV series. If such an injunction is secured, it could delay the show’s release. 

According to Eurogamer’s report, the lawyers representing O’Donnell and Salvatori filed the lawsuit in a Washington court back in June of 2020 and that since then, depositions and discoveries have been made. Now, a mediation session is scheduled for next week between the two parties – presumably the duo’s lawyers and Microsoft’s lawyers – and if an agreement or settlement is not reached then, this dispute could go to court. 

This lawsuit brings six faults against Microsoft:

O’Donnell told Eurogamer that he and Salvatori have been attempting to secure these royalties from Microsoft for more than a decade but after little return, the two decided to proceed with a lawsuit. According to the famed composer, Halo’s iconic music was trademarked by the two of them under O’Donnell Salvatori Inc. As such, their Halo music was licensed to Bungie, which O’Donnell says happened under a deal that remained in place even as Bungie was purchased by Microsoft in 2000. 

Eurogamer reports that Microsoft’s counterclaim declares that the composers’ Halo score actually qualifies as work-for-hire. If proven to be the case, would name Microsoft as the owner of that work. 

“It was never work-for-hire,” O’Donnell said. “It was always a license deal. So that’s what we did with Halo. With the first Halo music ever, that was written and recorded in 1999 for the first time. It was