'Melania' documentary film must remove Radiohead founder's song, composer demands

Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and film director Paul Thomas Anderson requested Monday that the "Melania" documentary remove a song they asserted was used without Greenwood's permission.

A statement from Greenwood's representative claimed that the film used his song "Barbara Rose" without consulting Greenwood.

"It has come to our attention that a piece of music from 'Phantom Thread' has been used in the ‘Melania‘ documentary," the statement to Variety said. "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. As a result, Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary."

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Fox News Digital reached out to Amazon MGM Studios, the company that distributed the "Melania" film, for comment.

Greenwood, the co-founder of the band Radiohead, wrote the song "Barbara Rose" for the 2017 film "Phantom Thread," which was directed by Anderson. "Phantom Thread" was distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures. The duo says Universal licensed the music for "Melania" without permission.

The "Melania" documentary, which follows 20 days in the first lady’s life before President Donald Trump's second term in office, surprised the Hollywood press after earning the best opening for a documentary in over a decade.

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"Melania" was also widely panned by entertainment critics as a form of "propaganda" for the Trump administration. By contrast, verified audience users on the Rotten Tomatoes website largely praised the film, giving it a 99% approval rating.

Reports found that Amazon MGM Studios spent $40 million on the documentary with another $35 million spent on marketing. Though the film earned less than $10 million in its opening weekend, the studio reportedly intends to recoup these costs through licensing deals as well as upcoming plans to add the film to its Prime Video streaming service.

"We’re very encouraged by the strong start and positive audience response, with early box office for ‘Melania’ exceeding our expectations," Amazon MGM’s head of domestic theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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The statement continued, "This momentum is an important first step in what we see as a long-tail lifecycle for both the film and the forthcoming docu-series, extending well beyond the theatrical window and into what we believe will be a significant run for both on our service. We are confident in the long-term value this rollout will deliver to customers both in theaters, and for years to come on Prime Video."