Microsoft sued over ‘Halo’ music

The creators of the original ‘Halo’ music score are suing Microsoft for over 20 years of royalties

Mike Salvatori and Marty O’Donnell – the composers behind the iconic score featured in the Bungie-developed ‘Halo’ games – are suing Microsoft over unpaid royalties dating back some 20 years, Eurogamer reports.

The pair’s lawyers initially filed the lawsuit back in June 2020 and it has been ongoing since then with depositions and discovery taking place over the past two years. The mediation date is set for next week, and if the two sides don’t reach an agreement, the dispute may go to court.

O’Donnell and Salvatori are responsible for creating ‘Halo’s’ iconic original soundtrack, including the famous ‘Halo’ monk chant, which has been used throughout the IP for decades. The pair claim that they created and licensed the music to Bungie in a deal that was supposed to remain in place after the company was bought by Microsoft in 2000. 

However, Microsoft’s counterclaim suggests that the ‘Halo’ music qualifies as work-for-hire, meaning that Microsoft should be considered the author of the work.

O’Donnell and Salvatori disagree with the notion. “It was never work-for-hire," says O’Donnell. "It was always a license deal. So that's what we did with ‘Halo’. With the first ‘Halo’ music ever, that was written and recorded in 1999 for the first time. It was licensed to Bungie. Bungie didn't get bought by Microsoft for over a year."

In 2000, O’Donnell became a Bungie employee, working as the studio’s audio director, while Salvatori remained independent and retained the rights to the music as O’Donnell Salvatori Inc, of which O’Donnell was also a part of.

After just 10 days of working at Bungie, O’Donnell suddenly became a Microsoft employee once the two companies merged, and the composer claims that contract issues began shortly thereafter. In a conversation with Eurogamer, O’Donnell claims there was a lot of confusion about how Microsoft would handle the license deal for his music and that representatives of the company repeatedly told him they would “deal with it later.” 

Eventually, the two sides agreed to license the music for 20 percent royalties off the use of the score outside the game, such as commercials and soundtrack sales. O’Donnell Salvatori Inc started receiving quarterly checks thanks to the deal, however, the amount received was reportedly not tied to any type of accounting details, such as actual units sold in the case of soundtrack sales.

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O’Donnell claims he didn’t take up the issue while still being employed at Microsoft, so as to not make too big of a “stink” and because he wanted to keep his job. But after leaving the company in 2014, he now wants Microsoft to fulfill its contractual obligations that were agreed upon 20 years ago.

The pair have also taken issue with their names not being mentioned anywhere upon the release of the latest installment in the franchise, ‘Halo Infinite’, which continues to feature their music. “I feel disrespected,” said Salvatori, in an interview with Eurogamer.

O’Donnell and Salvatori were further angered by the announcement and promotional material used ahead of the upcoming ‘Halo’ TV show. The pair have now reportedly instructed their lawyers to explore the possibility of securing an injunction to block the show’s release.