Who owns a music video?

Music videos sit where the two halves of our entertainment law practice meet: music rights on one side and film production on the other. It is easy to assume that paying for a video means owning it. Copyright law does not work that way.

How rights in a music video are settled, step by step

1. Map the layers. List the song, master and video as separate works, each with its owner (Circular 56A).
2. Sign before the shoot. Whether a work is made for hire depends on the facts that exist when it is created (Circular 30), so key creatives should sign before cameras roll. Our production legal page covers the wider paperwork a shoot needs.
3. Add a backup assignment. Each contributor also signs a written assignment, in case work for hire fails (17 U.S.C. 204(a)).
4. Clear the music. Get a synchronization license for the composition and a master use license for the recording, unless you own both.
5. Clear everything else on screen. Choreography can be its own protected work (Compendium 805.8(A)), and outside footage, artwork and samples need permission too.
6. Release, then register. File the video on the Standard Application, currently $65 online (Copyright Office fees), within three months after release to keep statutory damages and fees available.
7. Record the transfers. Recording a signed assignment with the Copyright Office costs $95 online for one work. Once the work is registered, recordation gives public notice and protects the assignment's priority over a later conflicting transfer (17 U.S.C. 205(c), (d)).

What kind of work is a music video?

The Copyright Act lists "motion pictures and other audiovisual works" and "sound recordings" as separate categories of protected work (17 U.S.C. 102(a)). An audiovisual work is a series of related images meant to be shown on a machine or device, together with any accompanying sounds (17 U.S.C. 101). The Copyright Office lists music videos among the works it registers in its motion picture category.

A finished video therefore carries at least three layers of rights: the video, the song (the musical composition), and the master (the sound recording). The Copyright Office treats the composition and the recording as two distinct works (Circular 56A), and the video adds a third. The copyright in a derivative work covers only what its own authors contributed, and it does not enlarge or change the rights in the preexisting material it uses (17 U.S.C. 103(b)).

One wrinkle: the statute's definition of sound recordings excludes sounds accompanying an audiovisual work, so the audio inside the video is treated as part of the video, while the master you released stays a separate sound recording with its existing owner.

Who owns it if nobody signed anything?

Copyright belongs first to the author or authors of the work, and the authors of a joint work are co-owners (17 U.S.C. 201(a)). A joint work is one prepared by two or more authors who intend their contributions to merge into a single whole. The congressional report on section 201 observed that a film is normally a joint work as to the people who actually work on it, and that their usual status as employees for hire keeps the co-ownership question from coming up.

That last point matters on a typical shoot. Work an employee prepares within the scope of the job is a work made for hire, and the employer is the author and owner (17 U.S.C. 101, 201(b)). Whether someone counts as an employee follows general agency law, not a job title. Circular 30 lists the kinds of questions that matter: who supplied the tools and the space, how long the relationship lasted, whether the hiring party could assign other projects, how the person was paid, and whether taxes were withheld and benefits offered. A director or editor booked for a single shoot and paid by invoice may not pass that test.

Without paperwork, whoever paid for the video may hold far less than assumed.

How does a work made for hire agreement work for a video?

Congress made part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work one of nine kinds of commissioned work that can be made for hire by contract. It takes a written instrument, signed by both parties, in which they expressly agree the work is made for hire (17 U.S.C. 101). Circular 30 breaks that into four requirements: an eligible category, a written agreement, express work made for hire language, and signatures from everyone involved. If any one is missing, the work is not made for hire. For longer productions with writers, directors and crews, our page on whether your production owns what its writers, directors and crew create applies the same rule to film and TV.

When the agreement does work, the commissioning party is the author and the initial owner (17 U.S.C. 201(b)). The term is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first, and the termination rights that let authors reclaim rights decades later do not apply (Circular 30). For more on how service agreements with creative talent are built, see our post on avoiding expensive mistakes in personal service contracts.

What if the agreement is an assignment instead?

An assignment moves an existing copyright from its author to someone else. It is not valid unless it is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights being transferred, or that owner's authorized agent (17 U.S.C. 204(a)). An exclusive license counts as a transfer for this purpose; a nonexclusive license does not (17 U.S.C. 101).

The practical difference shows up decades later. An author who assigns, rather than working for hire, may be able to terminate the grant during a five-year window that generally opens 35 years after it was signed (17 U.S.C. 203(a)). That is one reason production agreements often pair work made for hire language with a backup assignment, so the rights still move if the work for hire label fails. Our page on whether a contractor's work should be a work made for hire or an assignment compares the two in detail.

Does owning the video let you use the song and the recording?

No. Copying a song or a recording into a video, and building a new work around them, falls within the owners' exclusive rights (17 U.S.C. 106). In practice that means two negotiated permissions: a synchronization license from whoever controls the composition, usually the publisher or the writers, and a master use license from whoever controls the recording. The compulsory mechanical license in 17 U.S.C. 115 covers making phonorecords, and the statute's definition of phonorecords leaves out sounds accompanying an audiovisual work, so it does not reach a video.

An artist who wrote the song and owns the master can grant both. A signed artist should check the recording agreement before assuming the master is theirs to license. If a producer shares in the master, see our page on producer royalties and letters of direction. Our post on the top ten music licensing mistakes covers the sync and master side in more depth.

Should you register the music video?

Registration is separate for each work. The video is registered on the Copyright Office's Standard Application for motion pictures and other audiovisual works, and because the song and the master usually exist before the video, registering the video does not cover them. Our page on registering a song covers those two filings. Current fees and waits are on our page on copyright registration cost and processing time. Timing matters for all three: statutory damages and attorney's fees are unavailable for infringement that begins after release and before registration, unless you register within three months after first publication (17 U.S.C. 412).

When a motion picture is published, the music and other components in it count as published as well (Circular 45), which can matter if a song debuts in its video. Under the Copyright Office's manual, a separately owned recording released earlier is excluded from the video's claim, while one first published in the video is part of it (Compendium 808.10(F)(3)).

What changes the answer

• Employee or freelancer. A freelancer's work is made for hire only under a qualifying signed agreement (17 U.S.C. 101; Circular 30).
• When the agreement was signed. Status turns on the facts when the work is created (Circular 30), so paperwork signed after the shoot is weaker ground.
• Assignment instead of work for hire. An assignment can be terminated decades later; the notice must be served two to ten years before its effective date and recorded with the Copyright Office before that date (17 U.S.C. 203(a)(4)(A)).
• Exclusive or nonexclusive rights. Rights can be split and owned separately (17 U.S.C. 201(d)), and a signed nonexclusive license taken before a later transfer generally prevails over it (205(e)).
• Recording the paperwork. Recordation gives everyone constructive notice only if the document identifies the work and the work is registered (205(c)).

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Treating a paid invoice as proof of ownership, when only a signed agreement or assignment moves the director's rights.
• Signing work made for hire paperwork after the video is finished and assuming it reaches back to the shoot.
• Licensing the master but forgetting the sync license for the song, or the reverse.
• Assuming the artist controls the master because the artist paid for the video.
• Claiming a previously released recording in the video's registration instead of excluding it.
• Leaving the choreographer, editor or animator out of the paperwork.

What to do this week

1. List each contributor next to the signed document that covers them.
2. Mark who was an employee and who was a freelancer.
3. Check your recording agreement for who controls the master and videos.
4. Request written sync and master use licenses for anything you do not own.
5. Calendar the date three months after release as the registration deadline.
6. If the video uses someone else's footage or artwork, read our guide to legally using copyrighted works before release.

Frequently asked questions

Does a record label own the music videos it pays for?

Only if the paperwork gives it ownership: employment, a qualifying work made for hire agreement, or a written assignment. A recording agreement may address videos, so read yours alongside our post on personal services contracts.

Can the director post the video on a reel or portfolio site?

Only with the owner's permission once the rights have moved, because copying the video and showing it publicly are the owner's exclusive rights (17 U.S.C. 106). A portfolio clause in the agreement settles this up front.

Who owns the choreography in a music video?

The choreographer, unless they are an employee or sign a work made for hire agreement or assignment. The Copyright Office says the choreography in a music video can be registered as a choreographic work if it has enough authorship (Compendium 805.8(A)).

How long does the copyright in a music video last?

A video made for hire is protected for 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first; one by individual authors lasts for the life of the last surviving author plus 70 years (17 U.S.C. 302). The song and master run on their own clocks, explained on our page on how long a song copyright lasts.

Does a music video need clean chain of title?

Yes, if it will be licensed or distributed beyond your own channels. A buyer or distributor is likely to ask for each contributor's signed paperwork, the same documents our post on chain of title problems walks through for films.

Can you license a finished music video to a brand or platform?

Yes, if you own the video and your sync and master licenses cover that use. A license for your own channel may not reach a brand campaign, as our post on IP licensing for creators and brands explains.

Zala IP Law advises artists, producers, labels and production companies on the agreements behind a release, from licensing and clearance to publishing and royalties. If a shoot is coming up or a finished video has gaps in its paperwork, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701.