A license for synchronization is put in place to ensure payment to copyright owners when their music is used. It is important for producers to understand what is involved in obtaining syncronization rights. At least a few producers incorporate music in their productions without permission, particularly for programs produced for private use or for distribution in the smallest markets.
This practice violates the copyright law and also unnecessarily limits opportunities to exploit the production. Usually, the musician or music publisher will insist on retaining ownership of the work partly, or in full, and agree to license only the synchronization rights to the producer for a set fee, a royalty interest, or for an amount based on some other formula.
A synchronization license typically requires the producer to credit the musician not only in the production, but also in connection with advertising and promotional activities, and on home videos.
Home Information. Find Attorney. For Attorneys. We Help! No Hassles Guarantee. Search: Search. Popular forms. Songs written specifically for a movie Songs that are written for the purpose of use within a movie are typically composed alongside the film. Therefore, traditional sync deals are typically not used to license them. Instead of the production company going to a publisher to clear rights, a contract is developed between the individual writer and the studio, commissioning them to compose a given number of works.
Pre-existing songs Sync licensing is required to obtain the rights to use a pre-existing song in a film. The music supervisor contacts copyright owners,. The specific components of these deals are further detailed below in the Important Deal Points section.
Foreign performance royalties In the United States, music in film does not generate performance royalties when movies are shown in the theatres.
This is not the case abroad. When a film is shown in movie theatres in foreign countries, the musical performances are tracked with cue sheets and performance royalties are paid to the songwriter and music publisher.
If the film is to be distributed globally, a sync placement could generate significant performance income for the songwriter and publisher on top the initial flat fee. In this case, it would be important for the songwriter to be registered with a performing rights organization that has an affiliation with a foreign collecting agency, which would allow the writer to capitalize on these royalties.
This is an important consideration in negotiating the deal. Trailers Sometimes, production companies will only need to clear a certain song to use in the trailer. Songs can also be used in both the film and the trailer. In the former situation, a sync deal will be done for that specific trailer commercial and television performance royalties can be earned on top of the flat fee. This could mean that the rights holders work with totally different departments when doing these deals.
Television sync licenses are, for the most part, similar to film sync contracts. An important difference, however, is the fee. The fee is generally lower for television because TV placements earn performance royalties and budgets are typically lower for TV shows than for major motion picture productions. Network shows tend to pay much more than shows on local TV and cable. Performance income If a musical work is placed in a television show, that placement generates performance royalties in addition to the original sync fee.
This can also be the case when films are syndicated on television. This is an important part of the sync negotiating process, because production companies sometimes wish to take a cut of the performance royalties. It is incumbent upon the rights holder to be aware of clauses like these in sync contracts, because depending on the nature of the deal, performance royalties could be much more lucrative than a one-time sync fee.
If an advertising agency opts to use an existing song in a commercial, then a sync license is required. And after Chevy used Fun. Commercial sync fees depend on the size and duration of the campaign. A song placed in a nationwide, year-long television campaign will earn much more than, for instance, a song used in a car dealership commercial run for three months on local channels. Sync licensing for online producers of video content works in much the same way as film and regular television.
Netflix, Hulu and the like employ music supervisors to place songs in their shows and movies, and they negotiate with rights holders based on the same set of conventional deal points: type of use, budget, whether the song is a hit, etc.
YouTube Anyone posting a video on YouTube that contains outside music technically needs a sync license to do so. Instead, YouTube offers monetization abilities to rights holders, which allows them to capitalize upon ad revenue generated from videos containing their intellectual property. Technically , a sync license from the owner of the composition is needed any time someone uses their composition copyright in a video.
Sync licensing also happens when creators of video games need musical content. Having a song placed in a video game can also be incredibly lucrative. Millions, even billions, of people play these games regularly and etch the soundtracks into their consciousnesses.
According to an executive at the video game producer, EA Sports, any given song on the Fifa 19 soundtrack will be be heard around the world nearly a billion times. Music publishers and supervisors have relationships with music directors from video game companies, creating a pipeline for songwriters to license their works. Synchronization deals are different from other music licensing procedures in that there are no regulations or underlying copyright rules governing the fees charged.
It is almost completely market-based, and there are a plethora of different considerations that negotiating parties make when doing these deals. Below are a number of deal points that could be important in any given sync license. Synchronization licensing can be tough because, by law, synchronization rights holders maintain total control over their works when it comes to video.
As a result, rights holders may set any fee or reject the license outright. With numerous publishers, labels, and third parties in the business of enforcing copyrights and licensing, there are several consequences to not getting synchronization rights. Results can come in the form of permanent strikes, takedown of materials, and even legal action. While there is no guarantee that you will be caught, the fact remains that there are a plethora of reasons to get a license.
Music supervisors are hired by production companies to place songs in the show or movie, and to clear the rights for those songs.
There are many other things that supervisors can do depending on the breakdown in the chain of command of the production company. Supervisors can, among other things: analyze scripts and contribute to the decisions on whether to use scored or outside music; negotiate clearance with rights holders; help create the music budget for the film based on expertise about going rates for songs; and help with the production of sound recordings in case a new one is needed.
Production companies often hire the services of outside music supervision companies or specialty personnel. Independent musicians not signed to a label or a publisher may not have business people with back channel connections working to promote their music to film and television production companies. Nevertheless, hundreds of companies have emerged to meet the growing demand for sync clearances.
Production companies will then surf the platforms looking for the exact type of music they need, and when they find it, the licensing is done through a relatively standardized, impersonal process. This business model allows independent writers and artists to get their works out there, and gives production companies a cheaper alternative to major music publishers and record labels.
They can often use licensing companies as one stop shops because the platforms contain the rights to both the composition and the master providing that the artist and writer are the same person. These sorts of companies, called production music libraries, often allow songwriters to retain ownership over their copyrights while simultaneously extending sync licensing rights to the music library.
It is important to note that these companies are all different. They specialize in different types of music, have different business models, and the terms of the individual sync deals vary greatly.
In some cases, the songwriter can just sign up for the service. But often, the licensing companies vet and similarly recruit writers to traditional publishers and record labels. It is important for any musician thinking of trying to sign a deal with one of these services to do diligent research and determine which one best fits their music and career goals.
There are many different publications and websites, like the ones listed below, that can help artists and writers wanting to obtain sync placements find the right people to help them do so. Want to use this guide for something other than personal reading?
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