Warner Bros. Reportedly Has No Plans to Remove Controversial Joker Movie Song

The controversies surrounding Todd Phillips' Joker continue to erupt, but lately it has less to do with the film's depictions of violence and more to do with the fact that the soundtrack included a song from a convicted pedophile who is currently serving a prison sentence for his crimes. The song in question is "Rock and Roll Part II," performed and written by Gary Glitter, and Warner Bros. Pictures and Phillips have both come under fire for the decision to include this track in Joker. But despite the critiques, don't expect the controversial song to go away anytime soon.

According to a report from the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is not considering removing the song from the film despite all of the backlash they've received for its inclusion. They will keep it on the soundtrack and it will remain in future versions of Joker.

One of the main criticisms about the song's inclusion in the movie is that it could put money in Glitter's pocket, but he apparently will not receive royalties because he already sold his master recordings and publishing rights to "Rock and Roll Part II" years ago.

Consequence of Sound reached out to Snapper Music and posted the following report: "A representative for Snapper Music, which owns the rights to Glitter's catalog in the UK, disputes reporting that Glitter will receive any profits from the song's use. 'Gary Glitter does not get paid,' a representative told the Los Angeles Times. 'We've had no contact with him.'"

But the new post from the Hollywood Reporter indicates that Glitter could benefit from another smaller revenue stream from non-interactive webcasters such as SiriusXM, Pandora, and other similar services.

Those royalties are managed and collected by SoundExchange, which rewards the main artist and the owner of the recording. If Glitter was registered with SoundExchange, he'd be entitled to collect on that revenue.

"We currently collect and distribute royalties on behalf of more than 199,000 recording artists and copyright owners' accounts," SoundExchange said in a statement to THR. "In order to protect their privacy, SoundExchange does not disclose their registration status or share any of their royalty information."

Joker is now in theaters. Upcoming DC Movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2021.