Halo Composers Are Suing Microsoft
Incidents of archaic suings are nothing new, but more often than not, big developers or publishers will settle out of court. We saw this recently when Capcom was accused of plagiarising one photographer's work for Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry, however, Microsoft could be in big trouble thanks to some of the OG Halo team.
2021 celebrated all things Halo, with Combat Evolved turning 20 conveniently sitting alongside the release of the chart-topping Halo Infinite. This year is equally massive now that the franchise is back on top form, with Paramount's long-awaited live-action series coming out of the gate hot. Sadly, two Halo composers could scupper these plans.
Why Is Microsoft Being Sued Over Halo?
Speaking to Eurogamer, composer Marty O'Donnell said he's suing Microsoft for unpaid royalties relating to the early days of the franchise when developed under Bungie. O'Donnell and composing partner Mike Salvatori originally filed the dispute with the Washington State Court in June 2020, but with no agreement reached and a hearing next week, this one could actually go to court.
O'Donnell and Salvatori's work includes the franchise's "monk" chant and infamous "der der der der" that we've heard millions of times over the past 20 years. There are six causes of action, with Microsoft accused of "breach of contract; breach of fiduciary duty to develop the royalty income in a joint venture; breach of duty to act in good faith and fair dealing; failure to provide an accounting partnership; unjust enrichment; and tortious interference."
Expanding on why the case has been brought forward, O'Donnell explained the pair have tried to resolve this for over a decade with Microsoft - choosing to take further action after a lack of progress. "We just never seemed, through our attorneys and even when I was physically in Microsoft, I could never get much clarity on it," said O'Donnell.
O'Donnell Salvatori Inc. apparently created and licensed music to Bungie, with a deal that still remained in place when Microsoft bought the developer in 2000. As a counterclaim, Microsoft says that the Halo music should be considered as work-for-hire and should make the gaming giant the ruled "author" of the work.
"At the time, we'd only used that music for a couple of trailers that were, you know, pretty popular, but I didn't know if the stickiness of the monk chant and the theme would actually be appropriate to the final game," continued O'Donnell.
"That's when it first started. And they said, 'Yes, we will deal with this later.' And believe it or not, I couldn't get anybody's attention to deal with the fact that this was officially-licensed music until after we shipped Halo 1."
Could This Case Lead To Further Problems?
Click to enlargeO'Donnell had worked for Bungie until 2014 - long after it gained independence from Microsoft. However, Eurogamer reports that he was found in contempt of court only last year for using Destiny assets. Now, O'Donnell owes Bungie tens of thousands in legal fees.
It should be noted that the case against Microsoft was launched before O'Donnell ran into trouble with Bungie. Concluding with where he hopes things go, O'Donnell reiterated: "We're just trying to get them to do this thing that we thought everybody agreed to 20 years ago."
O'Donnell and Salvatori's next steps are to block the release of the Paramount+ series. The recent development sees the duo instructing their lawyers to "explore the possibility of blocking the release of the upcoming TV show with a preliminary injunction."
Where this one ends, we don't know. However, it wouldn't surprise us to hear that, in the near future, Microsoft have shelled out a small fortune to get a pair of Halo composers off their backs. An easy solution to a potentially massive headache.
