I do not want to enforce any kind of opinion, this is just an interesting read through:
https://www.euro gamer.net/articles/2022-02-10-original-halo-music-composers-threaten-to-try-to-block-tv-show-amid-lawsuit-with-microsoft-over-unpaid-royalties
(No space between “euro” and “gamer”)
This should explain, why Mr. O’ Donnell and Mr. Salvatori are not mentioned in the credits of Halo Infinite, too.
I think this is always why 343 with Halo 4 and 5 tried their best to completely separate from most of the traditional Halo music.
I mean, on one hand Marty always had an issue with his music being used by anyone else. Even fan covers and remixes didn’t sit well with him. But when you apply your music to a movie or game, mixing art forms, that art is no longer yours, it is part of the franchise, like it or not.
At the same time though, that’s why contracts are made and Marty has his claims to ownership. It is to show where the money flows and if it doesn’t flow back to where it should, then there is a problem.
With halo 4 and 5, they knew they couldn’t use all of it so they skirted what they can, but those ended up so polarizing artistically that Infinite had to use the old music to get the reaction 343 is looking for.
Artists and corporations don’t mix well. I think that’s the only takeaway I can have.
Microsoft bought the copyright for the music and therefore can use it in any form they see fit. This isn’t disputed by him. The whole case is about the royalties that he was promised for this in return. Also this seems to only apply to usage outside of the games (e.g. soundtrack sales, other media like TV and movies) - going by the Eurogamer article.
In the end there is a dispute over what exactlly was contractually agreed and if not put into writing what general rules apply (Microsoft seems to see it as “work for hire” which would automatically transfer the usage rights).
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Microsoft has proven to have a pretty good legal team when it came to software licensing and patents so far, so I doubt they would have let this go to court if they didn’t see a good chance of winning the case (otherwise they would have just settled). In the end however it will just come down to money.
Halo 4 and Halo 5 did end up polarizing but this was more to do with 343 wanting to make the game “theirs”, rather than them having to do it due to legal reasons.