That Song in Your Reel Needs Two Licenses, Not One | Braslow Legal

The edit is tight and the track underneath it is the whole reason the clip works. Then the audio goes silent on playback, or a claim lands in your inbox. Braslow Legal sees this most often with brands that assumed the song was cleared because the app offered it in a menu. Music carries two separate copyrights, and a video using a recording needs permission from both owners. Clearing one and skipping the other is the most common mistake in branded content.

Why does one song require two licenses?

Because a recorded song is two works under copyright law. The musical composition, meaning the melody and lyrics, is one copyright under 17 U.S.C. 102, typically controlled by the songwriters and their publisher. The sound recording, meaning that specific performance captured in the studio, is a separate copyright usually owned by a label or the artist.

Pairing music with moving images requires a synchronization license, or sync license, from the publisher. Using that specific recording requires a master use license from the recording owner. Record your own cover and you need only the sync. Use the original track and you need both.

Doesn't the music library in the app cover me?

Only for personal, non-commercial posting. Platform music libraries are licensed for consumer use, and business accounts are restricted to a separate commercial catalog.

Instagram and TikTok maintain separate commercial sound collections for business profiles precisely because their consumer licenses do not extend to promoting a product. Those in-app rights also stop at the platform edge. A Reel you legitimately posted with platform audio cannot be pulled down, re-uploaded to your website, cut into a YouTube pre-roll, or shown at a trade show. The license lives on the platform, not in the file.

What does a sync license actually cost?

Anywhere from nothing to six figures, depending on the song and the use.

Production music libraries license tracks already cleared for both copyrights, commonly $15 to $60 for a single track or a few hundred dollars a year for a business subscription. A known commercial recording works differently. You negotiate separately with the publisher and the label, and quotes for a regional social campaign often start in the low four figures per side. Most favored nations clauses are standard, meaning whatever one side agrees to, the other matches. Budget for both halves and for four to six weeks of back and forth, longer when multiple co-writers must each approve.

Is there a clip length that's safe to use?

No. There is no seven-second rule, no fifteen-second rule, and no exemption for short excerpts.

Some courts recognize a de minimis defense for tiny uses, and the circuits disagree about whether it applies to sound recordings at all. The Sixth Circuit in Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films (2005) told users to get a license or not sample, while the Ninth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in VMG Salsoul v. Ciccone (2016). Relying on that split to justify a marketing decision is not a plan. Fair use under 17 U.S.C. 107 rarely covers promotional content either, since the use is commercial and does not comment on the song.

What happens when you boost the post into an ad?

You leave the scope of most licenses. Sync and master agreements are limited by term, territory, and media, and organic social is a different medium than paid advertising.

A one-year license for organic posts in the United States does not cover a paid campaign, a European rollout, or the same footage still running in month fourteen. Exceeding scope is infringement, not a billing adjustment. Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. 504(c) run from $750 to $30,000 per work and up to $150,000 when willful, and running a campaign after a takedown notice is how willfulness gets proven. Calendar every expiration date with the campaign schedule.

Who is liable when the creator picked the track?

The brand usually is. A company that publishes, funds, or benefits from infringing content faces direct, contributory, and vicarious exposure regardless of who hit record.

Put the obligation in writing before the shoot. Influencer and production agreements should require the creator to warrant that all music is licensed for the intended use, deliver copies of those licenses, and indemnify the brand if that proves false. An indemnity from a solo creator with no insurance is worth limited money, which is why approving the music before the edit locks matters more than the paperwork after.

How Braslow Legal handles music in branded content

Start with the use, not the song. Define term, territory, media, and whether paid amplification is planned, then decide whether a cleared library track will do or the campaign truly needs the recognizable record.

Two copyrights, two conversations, every time. Braslow Legal advises Florida and New Jersey brands, agencies, and creators on music clearance, influencer contracts, and what to do when a claim arrives. Reach out through the site before the campaign goes live. This page is general information, not legal advice.