Former Bungie composer Marty O’Donnell asks people to “destroy” Destiny music he released without permission • Eurogamer.net

Former Bungie composer Marty O’Donnell has asked people to “destroy” Destiny assets he made available without permission.

In a message posted on his YouTube channel and Twitter page, O’Donnell read a prepared statement that will likely fall on deaf ears:

“I do not have, and I have not had since at least April 2014, legal authority to own or distribute non-commercially available material related to Destiny or Music of the Spheres (including which I composed or created while working for Bungie) “says O’Donnell.

“This material is owned by Bungie. If you have posted any of these assets on any website or other publicly accessible platform, you must remove the content immediately. If you have copies of these assets, you must refrain from sharing and destroying any copy of them.

“This request does not apply to any Destiny or Sphere Music material that you have legally obtained from commercially available sources.”

In September, Eurogamer revealed that O’Donnell was found in contempt of court for his use of Destiny assets – and owed Bungie tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

In April of this year, Bungie served the famous composer behind the original Halo music with contempt for court documents on Destiny-related videos that were uploaded to O’Donnell’s YouTube channel and others. platforms.

Some of these videos were the first musical sketches of what became Music of the Spheres, the popular musical base of Destiny in 2014.

The contempt of court action concerns the terms of an earlier lawsuit between Bungie and O’Donnell over his acrimonious exit from the company – an O’Donnell lawsuit ultimately won.

Bungie said O’Donnell, who was Bungie’s veteran audio director until his dismissal in April 2014, was ordered to return all material related to Music of the Spheres and Destiny, and was barred from returning. share it or enforce it under a 2015 injunction.

Bungie has stated that “all material” includes not only the music of the spheres in their final state, but all versions, components, and variations of the tracks – that is, all material involved in any way in the creation of the music of the spheres and of fate.

Fast forward to 2019, when O’Donnell began uploading videos and other material related to the music of Spheres and Fate on his YouTube channel, as well as on Bandcamp.

“The very possession of these documents by Mr. O’Donnell proves that he did not comply with the order to return” all documents “to Bungie,” the motion reads from Bungie.

Bungie also noted that O’Donnell had posted songs and an album called “Sketches for MotS” on Bandcamp, where users could pay him a fee if they wished.

Bungie argued that all of this activity amounted to contempt of court and a violation of the 2015 injunction.

In court documents reviewed by Eurogamer dated May 2021, O’Donnell’s lawyers claimed his “conduct was tacitly approved by Bungie,” insisting that the documents he was using were provided to him by Bungie. , were available to the public and “constituted fair dealing under federal copyright law. Act.” O’Donnell’s attorneys argued that his use of the material was “transformative” as he used the sheet music as a “teaching tool” and interspersed words and instructions over the music. The presentations are not the Music of the Spheres, argued his lawyers, but “precursors”.

“As the court can assume, this was a bad rift between Bungie and Mr. O’Donnell,” O’Donnell’s lawyers concluded in their response.

As in many breakups, Mr. O’Donnell returned all material (CDs, mugs, etc.) that he believed belonged to Bungie in full compliance with the Order. Bungie took his time, went through the material and returned the documents he didn’t want to keep (literally, music CDs) Mr. O’Donnell has since moved on with his life.

“In so far as he uses materials, he uses those that predate Music of the Spheres or that he received from Bungie or that are publicly available – to teach and educate other young composers. But Bungie cannot. just not let go. The relationship. Bungie insists on dragging Mr. O’Donnell to court for penalties on untenable grounds. The court should reject Bungie’s desperate attempts to entangle Mr. O’Donnell and allow this a matter of arriving at its natural and final end. “

However, the court ruled in favor of Bungie, and on July 12, Washington King County Superior Court Judge Regina Cahan ruled in Bungie’s favor.

The court imposed a number of penalties on O’Donnell, including a third-party forensic examination of his electronics to remove any assets related to Destiny or Music of the Spheres.

O’Donnell was also ordered to “post a message, the wording of which is accepted by the parties, on his Twitter, YouTube, Bandcamp and Soundcloud sites / channels stating that he did not have legal authority to own the material. related to the music of Spheres or Destiny and ask anyone who has previously downloaded such assets to delete them and to refrain from sharing and destroying any copies of them “.

“Mr. O’Donnell will refrain from making any direct or indirect public comments regarding these posts, including responses to those requesting the basis of these posts, and will let the message speak for itself,” the ordinance said. court.

Obviously, O’Donnell ultimately complied with this particular point of order – although I couldn’t see anyone actually complying with his request.