Distribution Rights
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | A contract that gives a company permission to sell copies of a movie in a specific place, for a specific window of time. |
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| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Distribution, Distributor, Chain of Title |
Imagine you drew a comic book, and you let a friend photocopy and sell it, but only at your own school, and only for the month of October. Once November arrives, or if they try selling it at a different school, they would need a brand new agreement from you first.
Distribution rights work the same way for a movie. They are a contract that gives a company permission to sell copies of a film, whether in a movie theater, on a streaming service, or anywhere else, within a specific area, called a territory, and often only for a specific window of time. A producer might sell the distribution rights to one company for the United States, a totally different company for France, and yet another for Japan, each with its own separate deal.
Why they are split up this way
Splitting distribution rights by territory lets a producer work with whichever distributor knows a given country or region best, and often lets them earn more money overall than signing away worldwide rights to just one company. These contracts are exactly the kind of document tracked in a film's Chain of Title, since everyone needs to know precisely who is allowed to sell the movie where.
Fun facts
- A single movie can have dozens of different distribution rights deals around the world, each negotiated separately.
- Distribution rights deals are often sold before a movie is even finished, sometimes before it is even filmed, in a deal called a Presale.
- If a distributor's rights to a territory expire and are not renewed, the movie can no longer legally be sold there until a new deal is signed.