Page 121 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
5.3.2 Licences

In many cases, a producer will obtain a licence, in other words a form of permission to use
certain rights, rather than an outright assignment of a copyright work.

Where pre-existing material such as photographs or film clips are involved, a licence rather
than an assignment will be granted.

A licence can include the following rights:

To copy the work, for example filming or photographing the work or incorporating
music or sound recordings
To make further copies, for example of a finished film or programme
To present or show the work in public
To broadcast the work, or
To adapt the work.

A licence can be as effective as an assignment of copyright. However, a producer or editor
should keep in mind that a licence is a form of permission that can be withdrawn or
terminated. The producer or editor should try to agree that the licence itself cannot be
terminated.

A licence need not be in writing to be effective, except if it is an exclusive licence. In such
circumstances it must be in writing and must be signed by the person granting the licence.
For example, an exclusive copyright licence granted to a person will give him the right to do
whatever he is licensed to do to the exclusion of anyone else, including the copyright
owner.

As a matter of law, assignments of copyright must be in writing and must be signed by the
person assigning his copyright.

5.3.3 Use and exploitation

Territory
The producer or editor may know at the outset that only certain rights need to be cleared in
order to allow specific use of the programme or publication on a ‘territorial’ basis. For
example, a producer may produce a television programme which is to be broadcast in the
United Kingdom only and will not be sold to a distributor or broadcaster overseas. In such
circumstances, the producer will clear any copyright only for use in the United Kingdom and,
depending on the material, pay a small licence fee to the contributor.

If the producer or editor intends to produce material that is to be exploited overseas, for
example through sales to distributors or broadcasters, he will need to clear contributor rights
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