Fitness Instructors & Platforms
OVERVIEW
Music rights are complicated. ClicknClear makes it simple.
When fitness routines are set to music proper licensing beyond the standard in-venue ‘performing right’ license is essential for routines and performances, and key for subsequently using footage of classes online.
Music industry content drives participation, reach and engagement but actually licensing it is very challenging and many do not understand the implications of using unlicensed music.
There have been lawsuits already suffered by some, and we do not want this to continue so ClicknClear has created a global solution delivering officially licensed music for fitness through a unique suite of technologies.
Fitness instructors and platforms must act responsibly in respecting music copyright and address its use, for three primary reasons:
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It’s the Law
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It Helps Grow Your Sport
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It Supports Music Creators
THE PROBLEM
THE RIGHTS
But fitness professionals and online fitness platforms need high quality recognisable music to accompany their fitness routines and therefore need a bundle of specialist rights which include:
CLICKNCLEAR'S SOLUTION
We work directly with record labels and publishers to clear their content for use in online fitness classes.
Our catalogue of music is 'pre-cleared' so you don't need to worry about the inner workings of the music industry.
You can better engage your participants and increase participation using music you know and love with confidence that you are legally covered.
USE MUSIC YOU
GET ONLINE WITH CONFIDENCE
Using our License Verification System, we can track, verify and report your licenses to rightsholders and collecting societies who cover the 'performing rights' (the right to publically play music).
All rights include the ability to edit and adapt the music into a mix (tempo change, add sound effects, combine with other tracks etc) to tailor it to your class.
All licenses include legal indemnity.
INSTANTLY LICENSE MUSIC
Either instantly license music with all the rights you need for $20, $30, $40 or $50 per song, per video for 1 years use or sign up to our blanket license.
You can search the catalogue, filter it by different genres, moods, BPM and more, to help you find the perfect tracks for your fitness class.
MUSIC COPYRIGHT EDUCATION
WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?
Fitness Instructors and Online Platforms around the world, using music, have had to address and respect its copyrighted use. Usually, an individual or group of individuals who authored the work (song) will exclusively own the work or copyright. If music is used without the proper licenses, the end user can be held liable for copyright infringement, and unfortunately, ‘not knowing’ is not a valid defense.
Copyright law exists in most countries in the world and arises when a qualifying work is created by an individual or company. Neither publication, registration, nor other action is required to secure a copyright, although in some countries use of a copyright notice is recommended, and in a few countries (including the United States) registration of domestic works is required in order to sue for infringement.
Usually, an individual or group of individuals who authored the work will exclusively own the work.
In each piece of recorded music, there are two aspects to copyright:
i) the recorded performance of the song, and
ii) the lyrics, melody etc. created by the writers of the song.
Therefore each song is owned by two sets of copyright owners:
The artist(s) who record each version of that song (whether a worldwide hit or an anonymous cover version) own rights in the sound recording of their version.
These are called ‘master rights’.
Then you have the 'publishing rights' that cover the people who wrote the song and control the musical composition of the song: Lyrics, melody, etc. Normally several writers have a % share in each song which can range from less than 1% to 100%.
Each writer will own a certain percentage of the song depending on their contribution to the writing process.
In order to license music for Fitness, you need a license from EVERY rightsholder for both the Master and Publishing sides.
TRADITIONAL MUSIC LICENSING PROCESS
Before ClicknClear, to license music, you’d need to follow the traditional music licensing process which looks like this:
You’d need to make sure ALL copyright owners have approved the license before you can use it.
This process can ve very expensive and time-consuming.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Copyright infringement refers to the use of a copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright holder, and remember, ‘not knowing’ is not a valid defense against copyright infringement, and the infringing party can still be sued. In the United States, a fine of up to $150,000 applies to each song that is infringed on in each infringement! This amount varies in different countries and can also include a prison sentence in some cases.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
The public domain refers to works that are no longer protected by copyright (that is, where the copyright has expired). There are different expiration times depending on the country and the side of music rights held. Typically, the Master rights exist for 50 years from date of release and publishing rights exist for 70-90 years from the date of the last living writer.
There is currently no database of works that are in the public domain, so extensive research needs to be done in order to ensure the work can be used.
THE MUSIC RIGHTS REQUIRED FOR FITNESS
There is often misleading information about what rights are required for fitness.
Below is a breakdown of the rights that you may need when using a song as part of your class, depending on your use case.
Please note, these are in addition to the performing rights licenses required from Collecting Societies.
In order to use one song for any of the above uses, a license is required from all of the record labels and songwriters who own the work.
ClicknClear offer all of these rights so you don't need to worry about the inner workings of the music industry.
Interested in diving deeper into music copyright?
