Licensing & Rights Management

Here is how this works in practice. We manage licensing and rights clearance so shoots can use music, footage, images and other third-party material with confidence. Our team identifies what needs clearing, secures the needed licences, negotiates terms and documents each grant of rights for the areas and media the production needs. Music clearance in the Netherlands involves Buma/Stemra, the Dutch music collecting society. This handles authors' and publishers' rights, alongside the separate clearance of master recordings — and we set up both.

Here is the breakdown. We also handle archive footage, photography, artwork, trademark and location-image rights, working with rights holders, agencies and institutions. Because the country is in the EU, copyright is set by harmonised EU directives. This keeps rights structures steady for cross-border shoots. All clearance records can be managed in English given the country's top English proficiency.

Here is the short of it. Rights work in the Netherlands also intersects with content type and data law. Audiovisual content released to the public is rated through Kijkwijzer, the Dutch type system run by NICAM. This assigns age recommendations and content descriptors — and we factor type into delivery planning. Where licensing involves personal data or the likeness of identifiable people, GDPR and the oversight of the Dutch data-protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, apply, so clearances and releases are structured to comply.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. We keep a clear, auditable record of each licence, its scope, length and cost. This protects the production against infringement claims and satisfies TV networks, distributors and funders such as NPO and the Netherlands Film Fund. From a single music cue to a full catalogue of archive and image rights, our clearance process makes sure the finished production can be distributed cleanly and lawfully.