Star Wars Refuses To Pay One Of Its Greatest Contributors
When you think about great Star Wars composers, you obviously think about John Williams, whose iconic music helped to bring our favorite galaxy far, far away to life. However, the franchise has had other awesome composers to help score things like TV shows and video games. One such composer is Mark Griskey: he created music for KOTOR 2 (Knights of the Old Republic 2) soundtrack and many other Star Wars games, but he recently revealed that Disney and Lucasfilm Games have consistently kept him from collecting royalties for his hard work.
Mark Griskey’s KOTOR 2 Soundtrack
If you’ve never played KOTOR 2, you might not know why the composer of the soundtrack is so important. In short, Griskey helped to create a moody and atmospheric soundtrack for one of the most influential Star Wars games ever made. Should you doubt how influential the game is, know that The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland is fascinated with the KOTOR 2’s Kreia, saying she wanted to explore a live-action version of this character and that this character inspired some of the plotting for her own show.
As for the composer of the KOTOR 2 soundtrack, he has a sad story we have watched play out in recent years. For example, about two years ago, Mark Griskey took to Facebook to express gratitude toward Disney for registering some of his music with the US copyright office. He admitted that there was still no way for him to collect any retroactive back-pay for his music, but he praised Disney for acknowledging that he was “human” and not a “Biological Asset Creation Machine” and seemed enthusiastic about getting his first royalty check (though he joked that said check might only be $20 dollars).
Collecting Royalties Isn’t As Easy As It Sounds
Fast forward two years and the relationship between the creator of the KOTOR 2 soundtrack and Disney seems to have largely frosted over. He went online and told the world about Disney sending him a certified letter stating that he can’t “collect any royalties” for his literal decades of composing music for Star Wars games.
While it was ultimately the House of Mouse that delivered this bad news, Griskey surprisingly claims that “Lucas is the bad guy here,” referring not to George Lucas himself but, presumably, to video game company and former employer Lucasfilm Games (formerly LucasArts).
Had To Buy His Own Trophy
While Griskey didn’t get into all the legal details, the KOTOR 2 soundtrack composer claims the main problem is that his music is being released “unofficially” in ways that keep him from collecting money. One example he gives is that a CD of his music was included with the Special Edition of the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Despite this CD previously winning album of the year with the Game Audio Network Guild, he allegedly wasn’t paid royalties and even had to pay some of his own money to keep the trophy that he won.
What Does George Lucas Have To Do With This?
According to Griskey, he was told by Disney that Lucasfilm didn’t know how to reach him; the KOTOR 2 soundtrack creator claims that he has had the same phone number, email, and website for 20 years, so they should have known how to communicate with him. His conclusion is that his old employer is “hiding my music from fans.”
As possible proof of this theory, he also claims that many scenes of him recording music at Skywalker Ranch “have recently disappeared from the internet” and bitterly says that after “4 billion changed hands,” his own “cut was about 5 bucks.”
Griskey Deserves All The Support He Can Get
Painting a very sad picture, the man behind KOTOR 2’s excellent music (seriously, y’all, this is a banger soundtrack) says that he is now financially supported by his wife. While there is little fans can do to directly improve Griskey’s financial situation, he is grateful for fans streaming and sharing his music with others. By sharing the man’s music and name with the world, we can all do what Disney and Lucasfilm allegedly won’t: honor Mark Griskey’s amazing contributions to Star Wars.
