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Chronology
of Events:
Although
it seems to be crystallizing lately for most folks, inconsistencies in CBC
announcements have prompted this outline of events leading up to their dropping the
song to run a contest.
First,
the short form. Then more details below:
Go
to "The
Spin Cycle:
What you're not hearing"
It has
become necessary to provide more details in the way of direct quotes
given the inconsistencies in CBC's public announcements issued over the past
week. The statements seem to be confusing some people. They're confusing me. And I
was there.
"After
the mediation, our team is even more convinced that the value of the song is
in its association with Hockey Night. We made an offer which stood until 5pm
Friday. We feel this is the only way forward.... I am prepared to extend that
deadline until 5:00pm Tuesday, but no further as we have a fair bit of work to
do to start our contest. We cannot delay implementation if we are to have
something new in place by October."
-
Wednesday,
June 4th, 11:13 am
From Me (ending with request for confirmation of their position):
"I'm
very sorry, but we cannot sell the song at the price offered by the CBC as
it is much lower than fair value.
We
would like to again offer that the CBC continue to license the song on
essentially the same terms as licensed over the past several years,
with the addition that there would be no license fee increase for the first
two years as a gesture of goodwill.
We
want to reiterate that a license to use the song in the future is separate
from litigation issues of the past, and they are not tied together. For
simple litigation resolution kindly refer to Kevin's proposal yesterday to
Mark.
You
have set a new deadline of 12 noon today for acceptance of CBC’s offer to
buy the theme. If the offer is not accepted it is the intention of CBC
to drop the theme. We must decline your offer and let the deadline
pass. Although we remain prepared to enter into a new license
agreement you have indicated this is of no interest to CBC. It is a sad
day indeed, but we nevertheless wish the CBC the best in its future
endeavours"
"Thank
you for your note.
I am sorry that we seem unable to continue our
relationship.
I am stuck in a meeting until after 1pm and will respond more formally this
afternoon" (no response by next day)
We
fax announcement
that CBC is unable to continue relationship and is dropping the song.
CBC
article. Mr. Moore states "We've been reaching out to [Claman] and her representative, and haven't heard
back," Moore said."
"It's a great theme song. We've had it 39 years … we hope we can continue our relationship with it."
"It
was Moore's understanding the CBC had until 5 p.m. ET on Friday to respond to
Copyright Music & Visuals' latest proposal, but "clearly they
ratcheted that [deadline] up."
???
see above where CBC rejected our offer and replaced with their own which
expired yesterday (Wednesday). Nevertheless, we let them have 'til Friday.
CBC
article
CBC
Mr. Moore submits their own license offer with significantly different terms
(worse for us, better for CBC) as outlined in this Open
Letter. He later refers to it as "the price they asked for" implying
we turned down what we offered. Article below.
In
response to huge volume of inquiries, we fax announcement
clarifying confusion caused by CBC's reversal as per above.
-
Friday,
June 6th, 4:06 pm - From me:
"As
you might imagine it's difficult to reach Dolores and family to discuss
offers and issues given our time zone difference and the stress of
events, but I will be getting to you as soon as possible.
Thank
you for your understanding."
Then
"Hello again... In fact I suggest that we meet Monday afternoon with
Freiman and Kemp. Are you able to do that?"
"In
order to agree to meet, we need to know that our proposal is generally
acceptable to you and that we can reach Delores during the afternoon to get
her signoff. We are checking on Frieman's availability."
"We
have a 5pm meeting to decide on whether to announce our contest tonight.
If we have the basis for an agreement, we will hold off.
If not, we'll go ahead with the announcement.
Please let met know by return email."
(Ed:
If the CBC had instead agreed to our same-as-before offer at any time until
this point late Friday, the CBC would have the song today and for years to
come...)
In
response to huge volume of inquiries, we fax News
release that CBC has decided to announce their contest and is dropping the
song as per above.
"We have not heard back from you...and I undertsand that you have
announced to the press that there is no deal, so we will are now sending
out our release about the national contest.
On behalf of CBC, I'd like to thank you and Delores for your contribution to Hockey night in Canada."
(Note
this CBC release quotes Mr. Moore as saying "saddened that we were unable to reach a deal, especially when we
presented an offer which we believe was not substantively different from what the
rights". Click
here for outline of how CBC offer in fact differed significantly.
"We
did not announce there was "no deal". We advised that you
intended to
proceed with the announcement of a national contest unless we had the basis
for an agreement. We sought a meeting for Monday in an effort to further
discuss/negotiate an agreement.
We are disappointed that you were not prepared to negotiate further."
"It's too bad we're at where we are.
We were prepared to meet Monday if you could give us any indication as to whether the offer on the table was acceptable.
Any response from you could have kept negotiations going.
Have a good weekend."
"That was quite unreasonable, Scott. You gave us less then 24 hours and you know that my client is 5 time zones away. Not meeting unless we agreed to your offer sort of renders the meeting meaningless."
CBC
article. Mr. Moore is quoted as saying "We have no real idea why the deal fell apart," he said. "We're not sure why because the other side hasn't communicated with us.
"You have to ask the other side what happened."
???
see above emails in communications.
"We really can't do business with a lawsuit hanging over our heads," Moore said. "We feel that we've done everything we possibly can."
CBC
article
Perhaps
after a weekend of public opinion, Mr. Moore offers arbitration with his
colleague Mr. Kirke even though contest to find a new theme was launched last
Friday.
"I am shocked by your email given your refusal on Friday to meet today for the purpose of further negotiations.
I would ask that you refrain from issuing a press release until I have an opportunity to speak with Dolores and Kevin."
"As you know, I did not refuse to meet on Monday, I simply asked whether you were "generally in agreement" with our offer so that we could understand whether there was a basis for discussion.
The press release went out at 10:30."
CTV
steps in, acquires all rights in the Hockey Theme, and rescues it from
oblivion.
CBC
article. Mr. Moore and Mr. Mike Myers are quoted:
"Moore said he didn't think "Hockey Night in Canada" would lose viewers along with
the song.
"Hockey's a game, not a song," he said.
Even celebrity hockey fans like Mike Myers of Austin Powers fame weighed in on the
controversy, describing the song as part of the "fabric" of his life.
"It feels like the second anthem, 'Hockey Night in Canada,"' Myers told a news
conference.
CBC
article
Globe
& Mail article.
Scott Moore, the head of CBC Sports, charged that CTV deliberately interfered with
the CBC's negotiations for the famous song, suggesting it was a publicity stunt to
embarrass the network.
"CTV management characterized their actions as 'saving the song,' " Moore wrote on
a CBC blog. "But they knew the negotiation hadn't run its course. I firmly believe
that if they hadn't inserted themselves into the negotiation, the result would
have been different."
(Ed:
How distasteful and desperate.
Simply glance through the above chronology and decide for yourselves. Hide the cat lest she be
the next one blamed.)
But CTV president Rick Brace sharply disputed Moore's allegation, calling it
"accusatory."
Brace said CTV, which reportedly paid in seven figures for the song, did not
contact the representative of songwriter Dolores Claman until after the CBC issued
a news release on June 6, stating that negotiations had failed and that network
would launch a contest for a new Hockey Night song.
"To try to lay this at our feet or suggest we somehow interfered with their negotiation is just ludicrous," Brace said. "They made a decision. They announced it to the world. And they walked away."
Well,
there you have it. You asked and you have received. This has been the past
couple of weeks. Imagine what the last six years have been like.
It has
been difficult posting this, but as mentioned, the CBC's 'inconsistencies' have
created such confusion that this is the only way to clarify.
As
such, it is up to the CBC to determine what is issued to the taxpaying public,
and what isn't.
John
Ciccone
Copyright Music & Visuals
Jun-18-08
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