Who owns your company video? Usage rights and buyouts explained

In our review of the FAQ pages of ten Berlin production studios in September 2026, only one explained this: who owns the usage rights.

Who owns the copyright in a film we paid for?

The creators do. Your contract turns that into usage rights for you.

In German law, the author is whoever creates the work (§ 7 UrhG (opens in a new tab)). For a film, that's the director, camera, editor and anyone else who shapes it creatively. Copyright can't be transferred, except through inheritance (§ 29 UrhG (opens in a new tab)). What can be granted is usage rights: simple or exclusive, and limited by territory, time or type of use (§ 31 UrhG (opens in a new tab)).

You rarely deal with each creator: anyone who agrees to work on a film grants the film producer, in case of doubt, the exclusive right to use it (§ 89(1) UrhG (opens in a new tab)). The producer, often the studio, then grants you what you agreed.

The rule that matters most is § 31(5) UrhG (opens in a new tab). If the types of use aren't named one by one, the purpose both sides had in mind decides what's included, and even whether a right is simple or exclusive. Brief a website film and you have a website film.

Isn't it "work for hire"? Doesn't the company own what it paid for?

Not under German law. Paying for a film, even for a "total buyout", buys usage rights, never the copyright.

German law has no "work made for hire". Copyright stays with the creator (§ 7 and § 29 UrhG, above), even in a job: § 43 UrhG (opens in a new tab) applies the same usage-rights rules to work employees create for their employer, unless "the content or nature" of the employment says otherwise. So an employer also gets usage rights, and their scope follows from what the job was for.

A studio or freelancer you commission isn't your employee, so § 43 doesn't apply. You get what the contract grants, read by its purpose under § 31(5). And § 89 gathers the crew's rights with the film's producer, often the studio, not with you.

US law is different. Under 17 U.S.C. § 101 (opens in a new tab), the employer or commissioning party is the author from the start: for an employee's work within the job, or for a commissioned work in one of nine categories, "part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work" among them, and then only if both sides sign a written agreement saying so (U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 30 (opens in a new tab)). Which law applies depends on the contract and the circumstances: a question for a lawyer.

Either way, write the rights grant out. If you're promised "all rights", have them spelled out: unlimited in time, territory and media, paid ads included. Our default is below: full usage rights to what we deliver for the uses agreed in the quote, with portfolio use kept unless we agree otherwise.

What should the contract say about usage?

Every use you plan, one line each. Copy this table into your brief or contract.

Two notes. Exclusive rights shut everyone else out, the author included, unless the contract reserves a use (§ 31(3) UrhG (opens in a new tab)). That's where a portfolio clause sits. And a holder of usage rights may not change the work unless that was agreed (§ 39 UrhG (opens in a new tab)). If you'll want to cut a 30-second version yourself next year, write it down now.

Why do paid ads and TV need a separate buyout?

Because paid reach is a different use, and everyone with rights in the film prices it separately.

A film briefed for your website and organic social doesn't cover media you pay to push (§ 31(5) again). Paid reach also raises what the rights are worth.

The German voice-over association Verband Deutscher Sprecher:innen makes this concrete. Its 2026 fee guide (opens in a new tab), published as orientation, puts a voice-over for a web or image film of up to two minutes at €300–400. That covers online use worldwide with no time limit, with social media extra. The same voice in a paid online ad is €600–800 per spot, in one country, for up to a year. Each extra year or country typically adds another 100% of the fee.

Studios price paid use the same way: one Berlin studio's FAQ says paid ads can add buyout fees depending on reach and campaign length. So expect paid buyouts to be limited in time and territory, and renewed rather than bought forever. If you'll run ads, say so when you ask for a quote.

Is the music included in the film's rights?

No. Music is its own layer, with its own licence.

Rights in works used to make a film, such as film music, are unaffected by the producer's rights in the film (§ 89(3) UrhG (opens in a new tab)). There are three routes:

• Library (production) music. Licensed per track or by subscription, in tiers. Check that your tier covers paid ads and broadcast, and whether the track is registered with GEMA.
• Commissioned score. The composer's contract decides what you can do with it. Ask whether they're a GEMA member: then the score is GEMA repertoire (see below).
• Commercial tracks. You need the composition from the publisher and the recording from the label, which holds its own right in it (§ 85 UrhG (opens in a new tab)). For advertising, GEMA says (opens in a new tab) permission comes from the rights holders themselves, not from GEMA.

If the music is in GEMA's repertoire, showing a corporate film at a trade fair, on your website or on your intranet also needs performing rights from GEMA, on top of clearing the music for the film (GEMA (opens in a new tab)).

Our release trailer for World Warfare & Economics (opens in a new tab) carries three sets of rights: our picture, a film composer's original score and a voice actor's performance.

Do we need consent from everyone on camera?

Yes, from every recognisable person you feature, and separately from the film's usage rights.

Pictures of people may only be distributed or shown in public with their consent (§ 22 KUG (opens in a new tab)). There are exceptions, for example for gatherings, but none covers a use that harms the person's legitimate interests (§ 23 KUG (opens in a new tab)).

• Employees. Germany's Federal Labour Court ruled that employees must consent in writing. Where they only illustrate the company, that consent doesn't end automatically when they leave (BAG, 8 AZR 1011/13 (opens in a new tab)). The ruling predates the GDPR, so involve your data protection officer, and agree now what happens if the person leaves.
• Event attendees. The gatherings exception covers the event as a scene. Once individuals are singled out, it no longer applies, and attendees don't have to expect advertising use, as Rhineland-Palatinate's data protection authority (opens in a new tab) puts it.
• Performers. Actors, voice actors and musicians have rights in their performance (§ 73 UrhG (opens in a new tab)). Signing up for a film grants the producer, in case of doubt, the right to use it there (§ 92 UrhG (opens in a new tab)), but their fee still follows the use.

In our "In The Studio" series for ADAM Audio, the people on camera are the film. Their releases matter as much as the footage rights.

Who gets the raw footage?

Whoever the contract says. Having the files and having the right to use them are separate questions.

Raw footage isn't automatically part of the delivery. The film producer holds its own right in the recordings (§ 94 UrhG (opens in a new tab)), and any use beyond the finished film comes down to the contract and its purpose. If you'll want it, agree which takes, the format, the uses, the cost and how long the studio keeps them.

Our default: we usually hand over the raw footage, on a hard drive (we charge for the drive) or by transfer (sometimes charged). We archive it for at least a year.

We're an agency. What should we check before reselling a partner's film?

That every right your client needs flows from the studio, through you, to them, in writing.

Your client can only get what you got. Check that:

1. Your contract with the studio names your client, or lets you transfer or sublicense the rights to them.
2. The scope is back-to-back. What you promise the client is no wider than what the studio granted you.
3. Music licences, talent agreements and releases cover your client's use, not just the studio's.
4. Portfolio use and credits are settled. Many studios keep portfolio rights (we do too). For white-label work, exclude them or agree a date.
5. Someone tracks expiry dates. Buyouts run out while your client is still running the ad.

How we work as a production and post partner is on our page for agencies.

How we approach this

By default, you get full usage rights to what we deliver, films and any other material, for the uses agreed in the quote. Music and stock media we buy for a project come with usage rights for you for those same uses.

We keep one right: to show the work in our portfolio, unless we agree otherwise (terms).

Raw footage usually comes too, and releases from the people on camera are usually yours to collect.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Planning a film and not sure which rights you'll need? Bring your channel plan to a free first call. We'll walk you through what we'd do and what it would cost, rights included. Let's talk.