Film score copyrights

In general who holds the intellectual property rights for a film score? And for specific film scores, how would you find that information?

For example, if you wanted to prepare an arrangement or other derivative work, you'd need to get permission from the copyright holder. Would that be an agency, the composer him/herself, the film studio, etc?

Thanks. :D

Composers almost never own the copyright to their music. The Producer with which they sign the contract hiring them onto the film will own the rights. However, as long as all the paper work is correctly filed, the composer is still entitled to the writer's share of the royalties.

Try contacting the studio that released the film that you're interested in using music from.

The film studio will own the rights if the production is large enough. For smaller projects the director (whoever is hiring and paying you) will often own the rights. It all depends on how your contract is drafted up. Andy is right- rarely do composers get to keep the rights to their works, unless the contract is set up for non-exclusive rights.