Re: How Roddenberry Screwed Over TREK Composer Alexander Courage

On Fri, 28 Mar 2025 18:33:01 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:

Once the STAR TREK pilot was bought by NBC, Courage was in an enviable
position: he would receive royalties every time an episode of STAR TREK was
run (or re-run), and even more royalties if the show lasted long enough to be
sold into syndication after its network run was finished. Courage's windfall
lasted only a year, until STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry suddenly laid
claim to half the royalties. How? Pressured by Roddenberry, Courage had made a
"handshake deal" a couple of years earlier that gave Roddenberry the option of
composing lyrics for Courage's STAR TREK music (and Courage signed a
contract-- unknowingly, he later claimed-- to that effect). Roddenberry
exercised that option, writing lyrics for the main theme and then asserting
his right to half the performance royalties as a co-composer. It made no
difference that the lyrics were not intended to be used in the show itself and
had never been recorded or released. As the lyricist, Roddenberry was entitled
to an equal share of the royalties, whether or not the lyrics were ever used.
>

Would there have been any blowback if Courage had sued? I know today
it's common for actors to end up suing studios with no harm to their
careers but it certainly wasn't the case back in those days. So I'm
wondering if would or should have been a consideration for Courage?

Courage protested in vain that although the arrangement may have been legal,
it was unethical: Roddenberry's lyrics added nothing to the value of the music
and were created for no reason other than to usurp half the composer's
performance royalties. An unsympathetic Roddenberry proclaimed, "Hey, I have
to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it out of the profits
of STAR TREK."
>