Why Commercial Music Licensing Is Getting Harder to Get Right Online
Licensing music for commercial use has been a challenging and potentially fraught process for as long as the music industry has existed. You might assume that with everything going digital, a lot of the rough edges would have been eliminated, but unfortunately the opposite has happened. In order to license music for use online, many hoops need to be jumped through so that regulatory ire and legal action aren’t the end result. Here’s why.
Ownership Issues
Music that’s released commercially is usually subject to separate copyright statuses, split between the owner of the sound recording and the underlying composition. The former typically sits with a record label, while the latter is the IP of the likes of the songwriters and publishers behind the track.
For that reason, it’s not enough to get a record label’s go-ahead to add a song to an online game or website. Permission must also be sought from the publisher and/or the relevant representatives of every party involved in bringing it to market.
That’s why many creators who publish content online choose to use library music that isn’t subject to the same licensing obstacles, or to create their own tracks to avoid getting copyright strikes against them. Add to the fact that copyright laws and ownership rights differ from country to country, and this stance makes even more sense. So, for example, you’ll find live casinos in Canada using tunes that are either created specifically for their games and experiences or sourced from copyright-exempt song libraries, where all that’s needed is proper attribution, not direct permission.
Usage Snafus
Another obstacle comes from how music licensing works depending on whether the purpose behind its use is personal or commercial. In particular, social media platforms with their own library of tracks available might give individual users the option to add commercial pop songs to their posts and stories without needing to pay anything extra or seek permission. Brands and businesses that seek to do the same simply won’t be allowed to, because non-commercial use of tracks only applies to user-generated content, not posts that are business-focused and explicitly or implicitly promotional.
The potential for problems to arise here is amplified by the fact that lots of brands want to jump on viral content bandwagons, reusing commercial music that’s popular in memes and trends users and customers are posting, without thinking through the licensing implications.
Automated Action
Perhaps the biggest headache for commercial music licensing in the online space is how infringement detection and enforcement is now largely handled automatically. Every piece of content that gets published online via mainstream platforms will be scanned to see if it contains copyrighted material, and if it’s detected and proper licensing hasn’t been sought ahead of time, it may be muted or demonetised, as well as risking being taken down altogether.
False positives are possible in this context, so even if a business has purchased a legitimate commercial license, poor metadata or system lag can trigger automated takedowns, derailing time-sensitive ad campaigns before a human can manually resolve the dispute.
All this means that commercial music licensing will remain a touchy topic, and one that requires careful management. Whether that means using copyright-free library music or focusing on in-house creations over licensed tracks, mitigation of potential legal issues is key.
