What a license defines
- Rights: which models are allowed, such as subscription, advertising, rental, purchase or downloads
- Territory: the countries where the title may be shown
- Term: the start and end dates
- Exclusivity: whether other services may carry the title at the same time
- Payment: flat fee, revenue share, minimum guarantee or a mix
- Technical requirements: DRM, resolution limits, watermarking and geo-blocking
- Reporting: what the service must tell the rights holder, and how often
What rights holders expect of a platform
Before a deal is signed, larger licensors review how content will be protected. Typical requirements are approved multi-DRM on every device, hardware-level protection for HD and 4K, enforced territorial restrictions, limits on simultaneous streams and, for the most valuable titles, forensic watermarking.
They also expect titles to be taken down on the day the term ends, which means availability has to be scheduled, not remembered.
Licensing vs owning
Licensed content is quick to acquire and leaves when the term ends. Original or owned content costs more to make but stays, and can itself be licensed to others. Most services combine the two.
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