Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and movie director Paul Thomas Anderson are demanding that music from their 2017 film Phantom Thread be removed from Amazon’s recent documentary on Melania Trump.
Anderson and Greenwood, who scored the 2017 Oscar winner, said in a press statement Monday (Feb. 8) that it had “come to our attention” that music from the movie was used in Melania, which pulled in a surprising $7 million last week in its box office debut.
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“While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement,” the pair wrote. “As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”
A spokesperson for Universal Pictures, referenced because it distributed Phantom Thread, did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokesperson for Amazon MGM, which released Melania, also did not return a request for comment.
Amazon MGM Studios reportedly paid $40 million for the rights to Melania, plus roughly $35 million to market it — an approach that the Associated Press said made the film the most expensive documentary ever. It was directed by Brett Ratner, a longtime Hollywood power player who faced widespread accusations of sexual harassment and assault during the #MeToo movement in 2017.
In the wake of the film’s release, social media began to buzz that it used part of “Barbara Rose,” a track composed by Greenwood for Anderson’s 2017 film. “MELANIA needle-drops some Scorsese-familiar pop songs and a bit of score from PHANTOM THREAD,” wrote one X user on Jan. 30, before adding: “I assume because Brett Ratner is trying his hardest to imagine what it’s like to be a real director.”
It’s unclear exactly how Greenwood’s song was cleared, or what legal recourse the pair have to demand its removal. As indicated by the statement, film composers do not typically retain the rights to their music, which are more often composed as a “work for hire” that’s retained by the film studio or the producers.
But a contractual provision secured by a veteran composer — Greenwood has composed the scores to Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and One Battle After Another, as well as Jane Campion’s 2021 Oscar winner The Power of the Dog — could potentially give him more leverage.
