Sync Licensing in Nepal: How to Clear a Sync License for Ads, Films and YouTube
A sync license in Nepal: who must sign for a song in an ad or film, what the licence should say, what unlicensed use costs, and how productions clear music.
A Kathmandu agency cuts a Dashain campaign to a nostalgic Nepali hit. The client loves it, the shoot is paid for, the edit is locked — and then someone asks whether anyone cleared the song. Nobody did. The cheapest fix was a signature three weeks ago; the expensive ones start now.
Sync licensing — pairing music with moving images — is where Nepal's ad, film and creator economy collides with the Copyright Act most often. Here is who must sign, and what the paper should say.
In short
A sync license in Nepal is the written permission to pair a piece of music with visuals, and one signature is never enough: the composer holds rights in the composition, the lyricist in the lyrics, and the producer or performers in the recording, so a fully cleared track needs consent from each layer. Under the Copyright Act, 2059 (2002) the licence should state the media, territory, term, edit rights and credit — and an unlicensed track in a broadcast ad or monetised video is infringement with real remedies. Nepali productions should clear music before the edit is locked, and creators should register their own songs so they can license with a certificate behind them.
What a sync licence is — and why one signature is never enough
A synchronisation licence grants the right to set music to images: the ad cut, the film scene, the wedding highlight reel, the YouTube intro. In Nepal the rights come in layers. The composer holds the musical work; the lyricist holds the lyrics as a separate copyright work; the producer of the recording — and the performers behind it — hold rights in the sound recording itself.
Using a recorded song therefore requires consent from each layer whose rights the use touches. A clearance that only the singer signed misses the composer; one signed only by the composer misses the recording. This is the single most common gap in Nepali productions — everyone knows the singer, nobody holds the composer's signature.
| Use | Rights layers engaged | Signatures to collect |
|---|---|---|
| TV/streaming advertisement | Composition, lyrics, recording | Composer, lyricist, producer (performers as applicable) |
| Feature film scene | Composition, lyrics, recording | All layers, scoped to the film's distribution |
| Monetised YouTube video | Composition, lyrics, recording | All layers, scoped to the platform |
| Instrumental track, no lyrics | Composition, recording | Composer and producer |
| Re-recorded cover of a song | Composition and lyrics | Composer and lyricist |
A sync license in Nepal: what the licence should actually say
A usable sync licence is specific about scope: the media (broadcast, cinema, digital, in-store), the territory (Nepal only, or wherever the campaign runs), the term (one season, three years, perpetual), whether edits and remixes are permitted, and how credit appears. The fee is the smallest clause; the scope is the one that decides whether the second season needs a second signature.
Two Nepali-specific notes. First, write it down: the Act's principle that transfers of copyright need writing makes paper the only reliable record of consent. Second, keep the credit terms the composer accepts — moral rights of attribution survive the deal, and a licence that strips credit is a dispute scheduled for later.
The Nepali reality: unlicensed music everywhere
Most advertising and a large share of online video in Nepal still run on unlicensed tracks, on the assumption that nobody enforces. That assumption is weakening: rightsholders can demand removal through platform takedown processes, send cease-and-desist correspondence, and pursue the infringement remedies the Copyright Act provides — including claims against the advertiser and, in practice, the agency that delivered the spot.
Agencies carry their own exposure: a production house that delivers an uncleared track has contracted to deliver something it could not lawfully supply. Music clearance is becoming a standard line in Nepali agency responsibility — the same way IP clauses became standard in employment contracts.
Clearing music for a Nepali campaign, step by step
The clearance takes days when done early and weeks when done after the client has approved the cut. Build it into pre-production.
Identify every rights layer
Composer, lyricist, producer, performers — named, with contact paths, before the track is chosen.
Agree scope in writing
Media, territory, term, edits, credit and fee in one document each layer signs.
File the licences with the deliverables
The clearance file travels with the master — it is what the client's legal team asks for.
Consider Nepali composers instead of libraries
A commissioned score with a written assignment is often cheaper than a foreign library licence — and it clears in one signature.
The creator side: make your songs licensable
For Nepali composers and producers, sync income arrives only from buyers who can verify ownership. Keep dated originals and stems, register the songs that matter at the Copyright Registrar's Office — the voluntary certificate is the ownership record licensees trust — and hold a clean split of composer, lyricist and producer shares in writing so a single licence can bind all of them.
A catalogue with paper is a product. A catalogue without paper is a dispute waiting for a brand big enough to be worth suing.
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This article is general information, not legal advice.