Mr. Bronsdon –
I am in receipt of the above Member Service Inquiry. The performances in
question have not been paid out upon as yet because we have not received a
usable cue sheet for the program.
Another Senior Account Manager, Ms. Lynne Enman, has already gone about
requesting this cue sheet. I thought that her correspondence would have
gone to you, but it looks like she is in contact with a Ms. Livengood. If
you have a complete cue sheet that you would like to submit, please feel
free to email it to me at this address.
As soon as we receive the completed cue sheet, we will process it and make
all of the necessary adjustments. This inquiry will now be closed. We will
start a new one for you when we have received the cue sheet.
Regards,
Marissa Cinquanti
Senior Account Manager
ASCAP Member Services
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
This is an unconscionable series of events, Marissa. If Lynne is the Account
Manager I spoke with over four years ago before the program aired, she
informed me she would obtain the cue sheet from Inecom and never followed up
with me. I assumed this meant she had resolved the issue. I do not know who
Ms. Livengood is. I am unable to provide a complete cue sheet as I am a
composer and not affiliated with the production company, nor do I have
access to a copy of the program to determine the timing of the two works.
I’ve included a cue sheet with this column left empty.
I have fulfilled every responsibility expected of an ASCAP member owner and
now ASCAP’s failure to actively work with me and represent me as a publisher
and writer has complicated things exponentially. It appears that “Horses of
Gettysburg”, at least as regards DVD sales, is now administered by Janson
Media (www.janson.com). My only contact with Inecom was through director
Mark Bussler whom I attempted to contact several times via phone and email,
reminding him to file the cue sheets with ASCAP, before turning to member
services for assistance.
I simply cannot accept a single piece of paperwork which is not my
responsibility to provide as an excuse for failing to collect money I earned
and am entitled to, which very well may have made the difference between
weathering the current recession and the brutally difficult economic
situation I’ve found myself in. To quote the “Cue Sheet Corner” page buried
in the ASCAP website:
“ASCAP relies on production companies to provide cue sheets on behalf of our
members. Most cue sheets arrive at ASCAP as a matter of course. Sometimes we
need to be pro-active and request cue sheets from the producers. The more
information we have before a film is released, or a series or episode airs,
the better off we are when crediting performances.”
As I said, I provided ASCAP with adequate information well before “Horses of
Gettysburg” aired nationally on PBS, including registering my works – the
automated email receipt of which I received in October of LAST YEAR. Over
four years after fulfilling my responsibilities and repeatedly failed
attempts to get ASCAP to do the same, it does not feel to me that the PRO
has been “pro-active” to any degree near what I would consider effective
representation of myself and Dynamicon Music Publishing.
I’m absolutely nonplussed and uncertain how to proceed with this situation
other than attending the California Copyright Conference speaking engagement
with Paul Williams and speaking directly with the Chairman.
I resent that I’ve been forced to become angry and lost any faith in ASCAP
that I may have had in past years. I also regret that I’ve had to adopt the
aggressive tone I’ve taken, Marissa, and I want you to know that it’s of
course not personal and I sincerely appreciate anything you can do to help.
I represent a very small company with few resources, and people like you are
my sole recourse.
Yours,
Kyle Bronsdon