SYNC LICENSE
ALSO CALLED: SYNCHRONIZATION LICENSE
DEFINITION
A sync license is permission to pair a musical composition with visual media, such as film, television, advertising, or video games. It is granted by the composition's publisher and is separate from any license needed to use a specific recording of that composition.
WHAT IT MEANS IN PRACTICE
Because compositions and recordings are legally separate assets, using an existing recording of a song in a video requires two licenses: a sync license from the publisher for the composition, and a master use license from the label or rights holder for that specific recording.
Sync fees are negotiated case by case, unlike mechanical royalties which are often set by statutory rate in some contexts. There is no fixed rate card; a sync fee can range from a token amount for an independent film to six figures for a national ad campaign, depending on prominence, usage length, media, and territory.
The practice is fundamentally the same in the US and EU, since it rests on ordinary licensing rather than any statutory scheme, though European collection societies sometimes hold blanket sync rights that a US publisher would negotiate individually.
Filmmakers and advertisers who use a song without clearing both halves of the sync deal are exposed even if they paid for one half; a cleared composition sync does not cover an uncleared master, and vice versa.
AN EXAMPLE
An ad agency wants to use a viral pop song in a national commercial. It negotiates a sync license with the songwriter's publisher for the composition, and separately a master use license with the record label for the exact recorded version it wants to use, since a cover version would only require the sync half.
WATCH OUT
Clearing the sync license and assuming the master is automatically covered is one of the most expensive mistakes in advertising and film production.
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