“Ten minutes,” Grant said.“I want you both on.I'll cover the teeth.You keep the edges straight.”
“We're ready,” she said.
Tony slid onto the next stool and opened his notebook.“Straight edges are our specialty.”
They pulled up the draft from last night and highlighted the key ideas.Ownership.Masters.Artwork.All files.All metadata.No carve-outs.She wrote it again at the top of her pad in block letters and underlined it twice.
The conference tone sounded in her ear.A new voice joined the line, lower than yesterday’s counsel.
“This is Martin,” he said.“General Counsel.Vivian is on another matter; I am speaking for the company.”
“Grant Parks,” Grant said.“I have Carlene and Tony with me.”
“Thank you for joining,” Martin said.No small talk.“We will not drag this out.Our view is that the relationship is no longer productive.In the interest of de-escalation, Summit will walk away from the contract.”
Tony lifted his brows at her.She kept her face flat and her pen steady.
Grant did not blink.“Define ‘walk away.’”
“Immediate termination,” Martin said.“We will stop marketing, stop the release.You can handle your own recording and touring.In exchange, you release Summit from all claims.And you pay for the recording time we've put into the album.”
Carlene spoke before Grant did.“On termination, rights revert to the band.That includes the album recordings, all stems, session files, ISRCs issued to date, and any art files created while under contract.We will need written confirmation that you will not reuse or exploit any stills, audio, or copy from our livestream.”
“That is a significant ask,” Martin said.
“You offered to walk,” she said.“Walking means you do not keep our shoes.”
Tony bit back a laugh.Grant let the silence hold.
Martin tried a new angle.“We invested in studio time and staff.We need a credit.”
“Not if we reimburse you,” Grant said.“If you need restitution for expenses, state a number and identify the invoices.We will review.”
“Expenses are not a barrier,” Martin said.“We want to exit cleanly.”
“Good,” Carlene said.“Then the deliverables are clear.Send the termination and the transfer of rights in one document, along with an invoice for the studio time.Our approval over the public statement remains.”
Martin exhaled into the line.“You do not need us.Consider this a warning shot.”
She let the sentence sit.“Consider it received.Consider ours returned.We are thrilled.”She softened the word as it left her mouth.“We are resolved.”
Grant steadied the sides.“We will need three things in the agreement.One, mutual non-disparagement.Two, a covenant that Summit will remove all references to the band from owned channels within twenty-four hours, excluding the neutral statement we approve.Three, a warranty that you have not licensed the material to third parties and will not.”
“Agreed in concept,” Martin said.He cleared his throat.“For appearances, we would like the joint statement to indicate a mutual decision.”
Carlene wrote the sentence as she spoke it.“We can live withmutually agreed to part ways.No language assigning fault.No language implying a breach.”
“We will draft now,” Martin said.“You will have it within the hour.”
“Send the assets transfer list separately,” she said.“We will confirm completeness.When we verify, we will sign.”
“We will do so,” he said.“Good day.”
The line clicked off.Grant stayed.
Tony leaned back on the stool and exhaled in one long ribbon.“Well, that happened.”
Carlene stared at the word she had written at the top of the page.Ownership.She circled it once, slowly, so she would remember this feeling later when the work got heavy again.
