Synchronization license
Also known as Sync license, Sync, Synchronization rights
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Short answer
A synchronization license, or sync license, is permission from a composition's copyright owners to use the song in timed relation to moving images, such as a film, TV show, advertisement, video game or online video. Using an existing recording also requires a separate master use license from the recording's owner. Sync fees are negotiated; there is no statutory rate.
Two licenses for one placement
Placing a commercially released song in a video normally takes two permissions. The sync license covers the composition and comes from its publishers, each of whom must agree if the song has several. The master use license covers the specific recording and comes from its owner — usually the label, or the artist if they own their master. A production that re-records the song itself needs only the sync license. Both rest on the copyright owner's exclusive rights to reproduce the work and to prepare derivative works from it.[1]
What a sync license specifies
A sync license defines the media (for example broadcast, online or all media), the territory, the term, the length and placement of the use (background, featured, opening titles), whether the use is exclusive, and the fee. Because every one of those variables changes the price, there is no standard rate: a few seconds of background music in a student film and a worldwide television campaign for the same song can differ in price by several orders of magnitude.
One-stop licensing
A one-stop track is one where a single party controls both the composition and the master and can therefore grant both licenses in one agreement. Music supervisors working to deadlines favor one-stop catalogs because there is only one approval to obtain.
Performance royalties after a placement
The sync fee is paid up front. When the production is later broadcast or publicly performed, the composition also earns performance royalties, collected by the writers' performing rights organizations from broadcasters on the basis of cue sheets filed by the production.
Questions
Do I need a sync license to use music in a YouTube video?
Yes, to use copyrighted music in a video you need permission from the song's owners, and from the recording's owner if you use an existing recording, unless the music is licensed for that use some other way — for example through a production music library.
How much does a sync license cost?
There is no fixed price. Fees are negotiated and depend on the media, territory, term, prominence of the use and the song's profile.
What is the difference between a sync license and a master use license?
A sync license covers the composition and comes from the publishers; a master use license covers a specific recording and comes from its owner. Using an existing recording requires both.
References
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. “17 U.S. Code § 106 — Exclusive rights in copyrighted works.”