Licensing: Music, Photos, Film Clips & Stories
How to use someone else's creativity, the right way
Freshly Explained: plain-language explainers (not legal or financial advice) on commercial, legal and financial concepts for creative-industry professionals.
Licensing is one of those areas everyone knows is important, but few people feel confident talking about it. It often ends with someone saying “we’ll check with legal”. Whether you’re adding music to a film, buying or selling a photo for a poster, or adapting someone’s story, licensing is ultimately about permission. Who can use the work, how it can be used, and what everyone has agreed to.
Understanding the basics (even before instructing a specialist) goes a long way. It protects your own work, helps you respect other people’s work, and avoids the kinds of problems that usually show up when a project is already underway. Here are some licensing navigation tips that might save you from a future dispute or help turn a one-off project into a sustainable business model.
Photo by Etienne Girardet
Why licensing matters
A licence gives clarity. It sets the boundaries of use and gives both sides confidence that the work can be shared without issues down the line.
For someone using the work (a licensee), it’s the permission you need to use it safely and lawfully.
For someone owning the work (a licensor), it’s the way you stay in control of where, how and when your work appears, while creating income and opportunities.
For both owner and user, a clear licence agreement reduces risk, protects the value of creative work and achieves something everyone generally wants in deals: clean behaviour in the deal.
What kinds of work are usually licensed
Licensing comes up across the creative industries, often more than people expect. Common examples include:
Music: songs, beats, stems and recordings in films, ads or online.
Photos: images used on posters, websites, covers and marketing materials.
Film clips: excerpts from movies, series, documentaries or news footage.
Scripts and stories: original written works being adapted for screen or stage
How licensing works in practice
Caveat and reality check: These are all areas where a specialist is worth instructing, even for basic advice, and it’s unusual to clear rights yourself if you are an individual or a large organisation (who have a team of in-house specialists to do this work). Investing time and money sense-checking whether something needs to be cleared, or whether you should grant rights for a clip, could save you from sleepless nights and future losses. Don’t know where to find a specialist? Get in touch with us and we can help you find one.
Music
If you’re the one using the track:
You often need two permissions: one for the composition and one for the recording. They are separate rights. Make sure you’ve cleared both. If your budget is tight, you can look at royalty-free options or commission someone to create original work, but always read the licence so you know what’s included.
If you’re the one granting permission:
Be clear on what you want to allow. If the music is for a single film or a single online use, say so. Decide if you’re open to remixes, edits or future uses. Your boundaries keep your work valued.
Photos
If you’re using the image:
An editorial licence for online use doesn’t automatically include advertising, posters or merchandise. Check the scope so you don’t step outside what’s allowed.
If you’re the photographer:
Spell out where your images can be used. You might allow website use but not printed products or large format displays. The clearer you are, the easier it is for others to respect your work.
Film clips
If you’re the one adding a clip:
Even a short clip needs permission. Fair use is narrow and only applies in very specific cases like commentary or parody. When in doubt, clear the rights or use licensed stock footage.
If you own the footage:
Decide how comfortable you are licensing clips, for how long and under what conditions. Controlling the terms protects both the value and reputation of your work.
Scripts and stories
If you’re acquiring rights:
Producers usually secure rights through an option or a purchase agreement. An option gives you exclusive development rights for a set period. You only own the work once you exercise the option (we’ll do a deeper dive on options another time).
If you’re the writer:
Make sure the agreement states payment, credit and exactly what rights are being transferred, for how long and under what conditions. With an option, you remain the owner until the producer moves forward and exercises the option. A full purchase agreement usually means a full transfer of rights, so the price and conditions should reflect that.
*Legal Stuff: it IS important to seek professional legal advice if you are ever unsure about anything on any template (they are not one-size-fits-all), ever. AI isn’t a lawyer (yet). You should still contact a lawyer.
Get in touch if you need help finding one, especially when it comes to protecting anything that you think might be intellectual property.
Questions to ask before signing a licence
Whether you’re licensing your own work (licensor) or using someone else’s (licensee), a few questions help keep things moving in the right direction:
What uses are allowed? What’s not allowed?
How long does the licence last?
Which territories does it cover?
Can the work be adapted or modified?
How will the creator be credited and where?
What happens if the project doesn’t get completed or released?
These are small questions that prevent big problems. Licensing is ultimately about clarity, boundaries and trust. When both sides understand what they’re giving and receiving, it’s far more likely the agreement will be signed smoothly and it sets a stronger foundation for creative collaboration.
The bigger picture
What we are trying to do at Freshly Ground Stories is encourage the creative industry to pay it forward by everyone doing a basic level of self-education and awareness on these areas that are crucial for a creative industry to thrive, especially at the intersection of business and different mediums of creativity. That’s what we’re all aiming for.