contracts – protecting rights, minimizing risk, and negotiating fair terms in the U.S. and globally.
Every stream, sync placement, and live performance can earn money – if the right licenses are in place and the right people are collecting. Looking for a music licensing lawyer in Miami or New York? ChaseLawyers® helps artists, songwriters, producers, labels, and publishers license their music on fair terms, register their works correctly, and pursue royalties that go missing along the way.
Whether your song is headed for a TV series, an ad campaign, a video game, or a global playlist, we help you understand what you’re granting, what you should be paid, and how to protect your rights if someone uses your music without permission. Our job is to simplify the complexity so your music keeps working for you.
contracts — protecting artists, producers, and their rights across the U.S. and globally.
What Do We Offer You?
Music Licensing & Royalty Services
Licensing Agreements – Control How Your Music Is Used
Every license is a decision about who can use your music, where, and for how much. We help you:
- Draft and negotiate sync licenses for film, TV, advertising, and video games.
- Structure master use, mechanical, and custom licensing agreements.
- Define scope, territory, term, fees, and approval rights.
- Review license requests from brands and platforms before you say yes.
Royalty Collection & Audits – Follow the Money
Missing registrations and accounting errors can quietly cut into your income. We help you:
- Register works with PROs, The MLC, and SoundExchange as applicable.
- Audit royalty statements from labels, publishers, and distributors.
- Pursue unpaid or underpaid royalties through negotiation or legal action.
- Set up international collection through foreign societies and sub-publishers.
Rights Management & Enforcement – Protect Long-Term Value
Your rights keep earning only if they’re documented and defended. We help you:
- Document ownership splits, metadata, and chain of title.
- Send takedown notices and address unlicensed use online.
- Pursue copyright infringement claims when necessary.
- Plan catalog transfers and coordinate with estate planning counsel.
How It Works
How We Work – Turning Your Rights Into Reliable Revenue
- Tell us about your catalog, license offers, or payment concerns.
- Share statements, contracts, or infringement examples.
- Hear back from our team within 24 hours.
- Map what you own: compositions, masters, or both.
- Check registrations against your royalty statements.
- Identify licensing opportunities and gaps in collection.
- Register works with the U.S. Copyright Office and collection organizations.
- Document splits and ownership with co-writers and producers.
- Correct metadata so income is matched to you.
- Negotiate licenses with brands, studios, labels, and platforms.
- Request audits and pursue underpayments.
- Act against unlicensed or infringing use.
- Review statements and flag discrepancies.
- Renew or renegotiate licenses as they expire.
- Expand collection into new territories.
Artists, Songwriters & Composers
Your songs deserve to earn wherever they’re heard. We help you license your songs and recordings on fair terms, register them properly, and pursue the royalties you’ve earned – so you can focus on making music.
Record Labels, Publishers & Rights Holders
From one-off sync requests to high-volume licensing programs, we help rights holders negotiate terms, audit licensees, and protect catalog revenue across territories.
Brands, Filmmakers, Game Studios & Media Companies
Need music for a campaign, film, series, or game? We help you identify which rights you need, negotiate sync and master use licenses, and reduce the risk of claims after release.
Our Reviews
FAQ
Music Licensing & Royalty FAQs
Plain-English answers about licenses, royalty flows, and what to do when payments or permissions go wrong. For advice on your catalog or project, book a free consultation.
A music licensing lawyer drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements that let others use music – for film, TV, ads, games, streaming, and live events. They also help rights holders register works, audit royalty statements, and pursue unpaid income or unlicensed use. For licensees, a lawyer helps identify every right needed so a release isn’t derailed by a claim.
The main types are sync licenses (pairing a composition with visual media), master use licenses (using a specific recording), mechanical licenses (reproducing a composition in audio formats such as downloads, vinyl, or interactive streams), and public performance licenses (radio, TV, venues, and streaming). Many projects need more than one, and each is often controlled by a different owner.
A sync license gives permission to use a composition – the melody and lyrics – in timed relation with video. If you want to use an existing recording of that song, you usually also need a master use license from the recording’s owner, often a label. If you re-record the song yourself, you generally need only the sync license.
Key terms include the exact use and media, territory, term, exclusivity, fees or royalties, credit, approval rights, and whether the licensee can edit the music. Strong agreements also cover warranties about ownership, indemnities, termination rights, and how disputes are resolved. Vague scope language is a common source of conflict, so precise drafting matters.
Streaming creates separate income for the recording and the composition. For on-demand streams, the recording owner is usually paid through its label or distributor, while songwriters and publishers earn performance royalties through PROs and U.S. mechanical royalties through The MLC. For non-interactive services such as internet radio, SoundExchange pays the recording side. Rates depend on agreements and statutory rules.
Warning signs include songs missing from statements, income that drops without explanation, registrations that were never matched to your works, or splits that don’t match your agreements. Start by comparing your catalog and registrations with each statement. Many contracts include audit rights with strict notice deadlines, so if something looks wrong, it helps to act quickly and have a lawyer review your options.
A royalty audit is a review of a label’s, publisher’s, or licensee’s books to check whether you were paid correctly under your contract. It may make sense when statements show unexplained gaps or when significant income is at stake. Your agreement usually controls how often you can audit, how far back you can look, and who pays the costs.
Usually, yes. Using someone else’s song in a video, ad, or podcast generally requires permission from the composition owner and, if you use the original recording, the master owner. Some platform licenses and royalty-free libraries cover limited uses, but their terms vary. Relying on fair use is risky, so it is safer to clear music before you publish.
When your music is played or streamed abroad, local collection societies gather that income and usually pass it to U.S. organizations through reciprocal agreements, which can take time and involve deductions. Sub-publishers and neighboring rights services can collect more directly in some territories. Accurate registrations in each market help income reach the right owner.
You may be able to send a takedown notice, demand that the use stop, negotiate a retroactive license, or file a copyright infringement claim. For U.S. works, registration with the U.S. Copyright Office is generally required before suing, and timely registration can affect the damages available. We can review the use and recommend a practical next step.