Negotiated License

Gaining Permission for Copyrighted Material

A film is a collage of many different forms of intellectual property. If a filmmaker wants to include a pre-existing piece of copyrighted material in their film—whether it’s a famous song, a painting, a clip from another movie, or a brand logo—they cannot simply do so. They must obtain legal permission from the copyright owner. This permission is granted through a negotiated license, a bespoke legal contract that outlines the specific terms of use.

The Complex World of Music Licensing

Music licensing is the most common and often the most complex form of negotiated license in filmmaking. To use a popular recorded song in a movie, the production’s music supervisor must successfully negotiate and acquire two separate licenses for that single piece of music:

1. The Synchronization (Sync) License: This license is for the musical composition itself (the melody and lyrics). It is negotiated with the music publisher, who represents the songwriter(s). It grants the right to ‘synchronize’ the song with the moving images of the film.

2. The Master Use License: This license is for the specific sound recording of the song. It is negotiated with the record label, which represents the performing artist(s) and owns the master recording. It grants the right to use that particular version of the song.

Failure to secure both licenses means the song cannot be used. The fees for these licenses are highly variable and are negotiated based on several factors, including the stature of the song and artist, how the song is used in the film (e.g., background vs. featured in the opening credits), the film’s budget, and the duration of the usage.