I could use your all's advice on this.

Basically, my friend is a songwriter and has been doing some small things for TV and movies for years and he recently developed a relationship with the music producer on a major TV show. He's already got several tracks in the can, ready to air, which he'll be collecting royalties on.

Where do I fit in?

I am not a professional songwriter, but a lifelong musician, who got into Interactive Design instead. Nonetheless, I continued to create tracks in my spare time. One of these tracks was with my friend, who I paid $500 to help produce.

Then, when the MAJOR TV SHOW rolled in, he submitted this song to the producer, who loved it. He wanted to use the music on the show and I agreed. I decided to take a 50/50 split with my friend since the track probably never would have been submitted without his work. He went ahead and submitted, and unbeknownst to me at the time (he just admitted this to me), in order to do so, he took a priority songwriting credit and put everything in his name on EMI.

I'm about to call him on this, even though I know why he did it. He thought I'd be cool with it and that he would "dispense" my income when his royalties come in. I call bullshit on this, because I don't trust ANYBODY in this situation.

Also, since I paid him up front, should I be trying to recoup my $500 investment? I feel like I am getting swindled here.

What do you all think?

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*Effasig*