Intellectual property
Content licence agreement
The paper granting permission to use somebody's content — photographs, writing, film, music, illustrations — without buying it. Its work is done in the scope: which media, which territories, how long, whether it may be edited, and whether anybody else may be given the same permission at the same time. It also covers credit, what the licensor promises about clearances behind the content, and what happens to material already published when the licence ends.
- In the catalogue
- Intellectual property
- Where it can live
- Any of the 184 governing laws
Who uses one
- Publishers, brands and agencies using photography, film, music or writing they did not make.
- Photographers, writers, musicians and illustrators licensing their work rather than selling it.
- Companies syndicating articles, courses or media to another platform.
What you are deciding
- Exactly which content is licensed
- Which media and platforms it may appear on
- The territory and the length of the licence
- Whether the content may be cropped, edited or adapted
- Whether the licence is exclusive
- What credit is required, and in what form
- What the licensor promises about people, places and music inside the content
- What happens to published material when the licence ends
Blanks you leave stay blank and wait in the room. Nothing is filled in from a guess.
The sections a draft usually has
- 1The parties and the content
- 2Grant and permitted use
- 3Media and territory
- 4Term
- 5Exclusivity
- 6Editing and adaptation
- 7Credit
- 8Warranties and clearances
- 9Fees
- 10End of the licence
A general outline, not a required one. What turns up in a draft follows what you described. A contract is written in the order a contract is read.
What people call it
The names this kind of paper goes by. They are here because people search for them. They also filter the catalogue. They are not a wordlist the door matches. At the composer you describe the deal in your own words instead.
- content licence agreement
- content license agreement
- image licence
- music licence agreement
- syndication agreement
- stock media licence
Questions people ask
- What are clearances in a content licence?
- Permissions behind the content itself — people appearing in it, music used in it, artwork visible in it. Papers of this kind say who obtained them and who carries the risk if one is missing.
- Does a licence cover editing the content?
- Only if it says so. Cropping, colour changes and re-cuts are commonly addressed explicitly because creators often care about them more than about the fee.
- What happens to material already published when the licence expires?
- Agreements of this kind usually deal with it directly: either it comes down, or already-published copies may stay while new uses stop.
General answers about the document. Not advice about your situation. Not written about any one country.
Where it lives
A contract names the legal system it is governed by. That is a separate decision from which paper it is. You pick it at the door, from any of the 184 units in Governing law, including England and Wales, Delaware, California and New York.
You do not start from this page. Describe the deal in one sentence at the door. Read the draft back in plain language, in the order a contract is read.
Start it at the door →Related kinds