Movies & advertising (synchronization)

Definition

Literally, it means the perfect fit between visual and sound elements in the production or display of an audiovisual work. It is a word derived from the ancient Greek, συν (sun) + χρόνος (khrónos), meaning “along with time”.

Occurrences

In practice, whenever a song is included in an audiovisual production, we can talk about synchronization. For example: uses in advertising, cinema, trailer, videos on the Internet, television productions (soap operas and miniseries, among others), documentary or in any other situation where music is associated with images.

Licensing

To use a song in an audiovisual production, it is always necessary to obtain the authorization of the copyright holders of the work (authors, composers or publishers), regardless of the excerpt time of the synchronized segment. In addition, where an existing recording of the work is used, it will also be necessary to obtain authorization from the owners of the master (performers or producers).

Related rights

The two types of rights follow parallel courses. For example, even when the author performs his own songs, the two authorizations are mandatory, as these rights are managed by different companies: music publishers manage publishing rights, while record companies, labels or producers manage master rights.

One-stop-shop solutions

There are situations, however, where a single company manages the two types of rights. When this occurs, we are dealing with one-stop-shop catalogues and production music libraries. In this case a single negotiation is carried out without the need to contact third parties. In the case of custom music, being it unreleased, all rights are also included in the negotiation.

Publishing shares / co-publishing

In works written by different authors, the same publisher does not always control the rights of all co-authors, since they are free to sign individual agreements with any publisher. In this case, we are dealing with works in a co-publishing system, where publishing rights are divided into percentages or publishing shares. To use the work it is necessary to obtain the authorization of 100% of the shares that comprise it.

Fees ​​/ moral rights

The authorizations always involve the payment of a fee that will be quantified from use, or that is to say, from type of audiovisual (cinema, advertising etc.), product, excerpt time, territory, term and media. Each song has its own value, depending on its importance and on the evaluation criteria of each repertoire owner (publisher, author, record company and artist). However, as moral rights are always reserved to the creators, the use can be approved or even denied by them.

MFN clause

Publishers and labels usually use the MFN (Most Favoured Nations) clause, which means, they prepare aligned quotes. In other words, if the fee by one of the party is lower than the other, the higher fee will be charged by both. The same criteria is also used when the work is controlled by more than one publisher. In this case, the share of each publisher will be proportionally adjusted to the highest fee.

Versions, translations and adaptations

Authorizations are issued for the use of works and/or masters as they were originally created. If the client wishes to translate and/or change the lyrics (a new version) or adapt the musical composition or the master, it is necessary to clearly state it in the authorization request.

Performance rights / cue sheet

Just as it happens when is responsibility of the producer to obtain the synchronization license, the audiovisual exhibitors (cinemas, TVs, cable TV, Internet sites for video streaming etc.) must pay the performance rights to the proper collecting society (Ecad, in Brazil). In order to make this process possible, after the conclusion of the audiovisual production, the producer must generate a cue sheet, which is a list of the synchronized music featuring the respective types of use and excerpt times, sending it to the publishers who authorized the works in the audiovisual.

Copyright duration

In Brazil, the work is protected until 70 years after the death of the last co-author. The works of the same author can therefore go into public domain on different years, depending on the death of the co-author. For the master, the protection period of 70 years is counted from the year following its fixation, which is indicated by the symbol ℗. After the end of these terms, the work and the master fall into public domain and can be used without authorization.