Clearing a Track: A Practitioner's Guide to Sync, Mechanical, Master, and Sample Licenses
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide is the operational walkthrough for clearing music: thirteen numbered stages running from the use specification you write before making a single call, through owner identification across the MLC, Songview, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, GMR, SoundExchange, and the Copyright Office recordation records, to quote requests, most-favored-nations control, sync and master negotiation, and signature. It works sample clearance end to end — how to describe the sample, what master owners and publishers actually ask for, how flat fees, rollover advances, points, and publishing shares are structured, and what the interpolation alternative costs once you price the session, the arrangement, and the publisher's approval leverage. It gives model language for split sheets, producer agreements with letters of direction, quote request letters, defensive MFN clauses, sync grant and reservation-of-rights clauses, sample terms, and the representation-warranty-indemnity-insurance stack a distributor will demand, plus a decision tree for the sample that will not clear. It then covers the back end that most clearance work ignores: copyright registration timing under 17 U.S.C. § 412, MLC works registration and unmatched royalties, PRO and SoundExchange registration, cue sheet preparation and delivery, and errors-and-omissions insurance underwriting. Separate playbooks address festival versus distribution licenses, film and television, video games and the streamer carve-out, and advertising, followed by a triage protocol for the use discovered unlicensed after release. The doctrine lives in the companion article; everything here is procedure, price, timing, and drafting.
IP and Technology > Copyright | Guide | Published 28 February 2024 - Updated 30 August 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This is the working manual for clearing music, in thirteen stages: writing the use specification, finding every owner and every fractional share, fixing your own split sheets and producer agreements before you ask anyone else for paper, sending quote requests, controlling most-favored-nations exposure, negotiating the sync and master pair, running a sample clearance to signature, and deciding what to do when a sample will not clear. It carries model language throughout — split sheets, producer work-for-hire and letters of direction, quote requests, MFN, grant and reservation clauses, sample fee structures, and the warranty-indemnity-insurance stack a distributor requires — plus a decision tree for the uncleared sample and a cost-and-timeline table you can hand a producer. The back half covers the machinery that pays you: Copyright Office registration and the § 412 window, MLC works registration, PRO and SoundExchange affiliation, cue sheets, Content ID and UGC platform licensing, and use-case playbooks for festivals, film, television, games, and advertising. It closes with triage for the track discovered unlicensed after release. The doctrine is in the companion article; this document is the procedure.
Keywords: music clearance · sync license · master use license · mechanical license · sample clearance · interpolation · split sheet · producer agreement · mlc registration · cue sheet · performing rights organization · content id · errors and omissions insurance · music supervisor · most favored nations · soundexchange · festival license · quote request · indemnification · publishing splits
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