CBC requests mediator for song dispute

From the Sportsnet web site:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2008/06/09/kirke_hockey_song/

TORONTO -- CBC appears to be making a last-ditch effort to rescue the popular Hockey Night in Canada theme song.

The public broadcaster has asked Toronto sports lawyer Gord Kirke to mediate negotiations between CBC and Copyright Music and Visuals, the company that controls the song.

CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore says CBC feels it's worth one last effort to save a theme song that evokes such passion among Canadians.

CBC's licence for the song, written by composer Delores Claman and a staple of Hockey Night in Canada since 1968, expired last week following the Stanley Cup finals.

The parties were in negotiations late last week before CBC announced Friday it would begin the search for a new theme song.

The broadcaster has asked Canadian musicians to vy for a $100,000 prize by submitting their own original compositions to replace the theme.

I can't see this making any difference... but hey, it's worth a shot... I guess.