A Brief History of Composers, Lyricists and Collective Bargaining

The first group to organize composers and lyricists for their collective good was the Screen Composers Association (SCA), formed in 1945. That was followed a decade later by the Composers and Lyricists Guild of America (CLGA), a labor guild that, from 1960–1970, had a collective bargaining agreement with the major Hollywood studios covering:

• Wages/Minimums
• Working Conditions
• Pension
• Health Benefits

Both groups included the major names in film music history — people like Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Miklos Rozsa, Alfred Newman, Franz Waxman, David Raksin, Hugo Friedhofer, Alex North, Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, and Henry Mancini.

In 1972, after a three-month strike, 71 members of the CLGA led by Elmer Bernstein filed a class-action lawsuit against the major studios. The lawsuit was settled in 1979, but the protracted legal battle led to the guild's dissolution in 1982.

In 1983, with the help of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) was formed by a small group of composers and lyricists led by James DiPasquale and Norman Gimbel. In 1984, the National Labor Relations Board denied guild status to the SCL, but the Society has continued to function successfully in disseminating information about the craft and business of creating music for all forms of contemporary media. While union status remains an objective, composers and lyricists remain the only creative group in the radio, television, motion picture, recording and other entertainment fields without the protection and guidance of a union.