[Fmpro] AFM memberships for composers

[CORBERLAW@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/27/2008 1:38:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time,  
fmpro-request at nxport.com writes:

What is  the historical reason and modern application as to why  
composers are  not part of the AFM? Aside from musicians the AFM also  
represents  arrangers and copyists, so why not composers? We used to be  
all the  same team back in the day before the big anti trust laws that  
forced  the film companies to shift models to outsourcing. Then in the   
outsourcing days it would seem obvious composers (most) just made  too  
much money and the jobs were too prevalent for composers with  any  
decent chops (sort of like how programmers have been for the  last 15  
years although that is slowing now as more coding jobs are  being done  
in India and Malaysia). But even if composers didnt want  to be part of  
AFM 40 even 10 years ago, doesn't it seem the economy  has shifted so  
drastically that none other than the top 10 or so  could object to the  
AFM representing them on legal and legislation  issues that are what  
will set our future. Not to mention the benefit  collective bargaining  
could present to causes of injustice between  composers and PROs,  
composers and publishers, composers and RIAA,  etc etc

To me it seems a no brainer wanting to be part of the AFL/CIO  with the  
power of the legal and lobbying units they provide, along  with things  
like minimum wage demands for union work (not maximum  caps, dont read  
this incorrectly!)

So other than composers  are generally so scared of getting squeezed  
off the gravy train that  they will generally do anything, ie agree to  
be exploited, what are  the reasons that AFM has not to this date  
extended invites to  composers? Or have they and we rejected them?

I know if the AFM  extended and invite to me, offering me the same  
types of rights and  privileges it offers to its musician members, I  
would jump on it in  a heartbeat

Christopher Kennedy Alpiar


Since I know a little about this.
 
Briefly, unions' members are employees.  Score composers are  generally 
considered employers, and were deemed to be as such in the 1980s in a  case called 
THE SCL VS. (now I forget the lead defendant, it could have  been Aaron 
Spelling Productions) before the NLRB.  The issue has not  been re-litigated.
 
Composers have tried to get the Writers Guild of America to admit  them as 
members to no avail (the SCL had been in talks for  years).
 
There is much more to this story than what I've written.  
 
Being a member of a union is not always that helpful.  Many  AFM members are 
unemployed and without work.
 
Besides that all unions are susceptible to something called  financial core 
status.
 
And by being an employee, all of your work is automatically a  
"work-made-for-hire."
   

Brian Lee  Corber
attorney at law
_corberlaw at aol.com_ (mailto:corberlaw at aol.com) 
818-399-4735




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