The dos and don’ts of licensing

A cross-industry grouping of speakers discussed digital licensing best practice and shared their knowledge of the licensing process with delegates at the third World Copyright Summit in Brussels.

All panellists agreed that the pace of technology meant the licensing process couldn’t keep up. Just as soon as a licensing solution is found for a new kind of service, something else comes along with another new concept and new licensing demands. ‘It’s just not a settled environment,’ said Ben Drury, the CEO of 7Digital in the UK, ‘you just have to accept that if you’re not Apple or Google with an army of lawyers, it’s going to be difficult to do.’

Richard Conlon of BMI felt that licensors haven’t always helped the situation. ‘We need to look hard at ourselves,’ he suggested. And, in a nod towards the recent fragmentation of repertoire: ‘’We’ve created cracks in our creative façade that will hurt us long term.’

Lawyer Tom Frederikse of Clinton’s agreed that licensing musical works is not always easy. ‘It can be daunting at first (for digital startups).’ But he had praise, too, for the way the publisher approach has developed over the last five years: ‘You have a lot to be proud of…it’s improved enormously; we now have fewer stop shops in place,’ before paraphrasing Einstein with a plea to ‘make it as easy as you can but not easier.’

Justin Kalifowitz, the President of Downtown Music Publishing supported collective licensing. ‘It’s not sustainable for us to license everything directly,’ he said, ‘and the Collecting Society system provides a good solution.’

Licensing is about partnership suggested Jakob Hüttel of KODA. ‘We know our markets and we’ll share what we know with users who want to enter our market,’ he said. ‘It’s in everyone’s interests to be partners.’

There were calls for a document that simply explained which rights were needed and how licensees should go about getting them. ‘A map of the landscape,’ suggested Frederikse, ‘ to help people understand it before they have to pay me to help them understand it!’

Kalifowitz agreed. ‘There’s a lot of misinformation out there; about rights and the territories you need them for.’

Emmanuel Legrand, moderating the session, asked all panellists to contribute what was on their mind at the start of the licensing process:

‘Getting to know each other,’ ventured Hüttel.

‘Come prepared,’ said Kalifowitz.

Frederikse was more specific: ‘See the overall picture for your chosen territory so you don’t enter into licensing discussions and THEN discover your business model doesn’t work.’

‘Be realistic in your expectations of the time it’s going to take. Be patient,’ contributed the ever-practical Drury.

‘Be committed to get it done,’ suggested Conlon.

The session was a fairly straightforward canter through the sometimes confusing and increasingly exploratory process of licensing for the digital environment,. But as with many of the sessions at this Summit, there was a sense of pragmatism and a general acceptance that licensors and licensees were better understanding each others’ needs.

Adrian Crookes