"The ownership of the "Batman" franchise is complex, and the hit singles from this album were not allowed on any of Prince's hits collections. Even on the concert t-shirts which listed all Prince's album titles to date had the song "Scandalous" rather than Batman." http://en.wikipedia.org/w...an_(album)

You know ... I always saw "Scandalous"listed instead of "Batman" and it me wonder but I never thought much of it. Interesting... So P must not own much or have any control in that area since it was only a soundtrack for someone elses movie...

prime said:

Whilst none of the Batman soundtrack album songs feature on the 'Hits / B-sides' album release, both 'Partyman (Edit)' and 'The Future (Remix)' were included on accompanying single releases to this release.

The complexities in terms of ownership / licences / permissions might have arisen at least partly as a result of Prince choosing to incorporate elements of the soundtrack dialogue into the soundtrack song recordings. The edited version of 'Partyman' and remix of 'The Future' notably did not include the dialogue featured on the soundtrack album versions, which possibly overcame some release difficulties.

.
[Edited 10/27/07 1:22am]

True, the problems with the Batman songs boils down to 2 things; the copyright issues associated with dialogue samples from the movie (particularly Jack Nicholson's), and the copyright of the name "Batman". Obviously, it's only really the first of these that is an issue with Prince's songs. It's not that these tracks aren't allowed to be included on hits compilations, it's just that their inclusion would require new contracts and use agreements to be drawn up, which basically, would be more hassle than it's worth.

prime said:

Maybe he was given more rights to Scandalous. I read that Prince wrote this song with his father and a separate of the Scandulous Sex Suite was released.

On a positive note, we got the 3 music videos on the Batman Special Edition DVD. I wonder how long it would have taken Prince to do that if he owned them.

Slightly OT: The NFT in London are having a Tim Burton Season in December. I can finally see Batman on the big screen (was too young in 1989) as well as other favourites.
[Edited 10/27/07 5:17am]

sometimes it really is just a friggin' work 4 hire,
no matter how great it is.



i thought it deserved a nomination or win from Oscar.
it was DIVINE how Prince contributed an authentic creation
& delivered as a TEAM PLAYER (on his own terms, separately!)

the film did get a nod or win for best Art Direction.
i like to think Prince's music contributed to that on some level.
case in point: i've heard multiple best actor nominees state they would never
have delivered a particular performance without the contextual support of their co-players.
i totally think Prince's music and participation on this project inspired others to give it their best shot.

Ellie said:

This is true....we would never see them. Is the long verison of Partyman on there or jsut the short version?