Law 360 recently published an article authored by our Philadelphia partner, Sekou Campbell, that dives into the synchronization licensing gap between copyrighted music and audiovisual imagery.

Here’s a short synopsis of the article:

Peloton Interactive Inc.’s innovative stationary bikes synchronize recorded music with an instructor-led workout streamed through an app or on those bikes’ screens. However, Peloton, and others like it, face a significant challenge with their musical offerings: a synchronization licensing gap.

Synchronization rights refer to the right to create a derivative work by combining (synchronizing) an existing copyrighted song with an audiovisual image like a television show, commercial, film or, in this case, a workout video. In contrast to other licenses, like public performance (the right to play recorded music in public) or mechanical (the right to reproduce music in audio-only format), sync rights to each individual song must be individually negotiated. While obtaining such rights is generally burdensome, television, film and commercial producers have enough lead time to curate and obtain sync licenses to the necessary songs for their works.  

Read the entire article HERE.