Creators strive to have their content take over the Internet, but will they be prepared if their video goes viral? Last week, Vydia CEO & Co-Founder, Roy LaManna, took on the Discovery Stage at SXSW 2018 to expose the truth behind “going viral” and offer key advice on how to make sure your content is protected as soon as possible.

LaManna opened his SXSW 2018 talk by explaining the less glamorous side of a video going viral, and how in some cases it can actually be a costly mistake. To further drive his point, he reflected on past experiences with two different viral Vydia creators who ended up giving a big portion of their rights away because they weren’t in full control of their content from the start. LaManna stressed how with today’s technology, publishing across the web is easy, however protecting your videos, avoiding conflicts, and ensuring proper ownership should be your top priorities.

Before a creator can claim full ownership of their content, they need a better understanding of the different kind of rights associated with a music video. To provide more clarification, LaManna explained how “a music video is a bundle of rights” which can be separately monetized and includes:

  1. Visual rights: visual elements of that video
  2. Sound recording rights: physical recording of the song that is in your video
  3. Composition rights: lyrics and melody of that song

The composition rights can be broken down even further into four underlying rights:

  1. Synchronization rights: ability to sync that song to a moving picture
  2. Reproduction/mechanical rights: ability to reproduce that content
  3. Performance rights: ability to perform that content in a public place
  4. Lyrical rights: the order in which you place the words

LaManna dove into the complexity of each of these rights, what agreements creators can get to protect their rights, and how they can collect royalties. He also described 4 common scenarios that creators may face when it comes to properly claiming their content.

To close out his SXSW 2018 talk, LaManna left 6 important points to keep in mind when taking steps to protect your video before it goes viral (to avoid a future headache and any potential financial burden):

  1. Don’t have overlapping rights: avoid granting multiple companies the rights to the same asset.
  2. Be aware of who has ownership: when getting into agreements, know the difference between transferring ownership and granting a limited license.
  3. Break it down by territories: Don’t forget that some companies only have agreements for the US. There are multiple services that will help you collect outside the US territory–some creators will even have separate agreements for all different territories when it comes to collecting on their content.
  4. Advances are not free money: Always remember that you are giving something up to get something in return.
  5. Read the fine print: When you’re online and clicking through the web, you’re agreeing to a digital license. It is extremely important that you read and understand everything within the agreement to know what you’re getting into.
  6. Be mindful with collaborations: Collaborating with minors can be tricky, understand that there is a possibility that they can disaffirm their contract upon turning 18.

Under the influential leadership of Roy LaManna, we are proud to provide creators with the knowledge and ability to fully protect and stay in complete control of their content from one centralized platform. To learn more about Vydia Content Protection, click here.

Check out our additional SXSW 2018 panels here.