TECH NEWS – Marty O’Donnell and Mike Salvatori sued Microsoft in 2020 over forgetting to pay Halo’s music royalties. It seems that a settlement has now been reached.

It appears that a result has finally been reached between Microsoft and O’Donnell/Salvatori, Inc. over the music royalties for the Halo games. The dispute actually dates back to 2001, when the two composers licensed the music for the game to Bungie.

Shortly afterwards, however, Microsoft acquired Halo before the game was completed, so the Xbox manufacturer considered the Halo music as a work-for-hire product rather than a licensing agreement, and thus claimed the copyright.

In 2020, the authors of Halo’s music, O’Donnell and Salvatori, felt they wanted to take their long-running dispute with Microsoft to court and demand that the company pay them back the unpaid royalties. The pair’s legal team even considered whether the dispute could prevent the Halo series from debuting.

The litigation now appears to be over, as O’Donnel tweeted on Tuesday that “Microsoft and O’Donnell/Salvatori, Inc., are pleased to have amicably resolved their differences”. Along with the statement, he shared one of his songs with the exclamation, “Looks like I’ll be able to share some of those videos once again!”

Looks like I'll be able to share some of those videos once again! Microsoft and O’Donnell/Salvatori, Inc., are pleased to have amicably resolved their differences.https://t.co/ZLnhFgblr6

— Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder) April 18, 2022

So, it can be assumed that the amicable agreement was beneficial for both parties and that the disagreement, which has been lingering for more than 10 years, can finally be put to rest.

Source: VGC