Lead, Rights & Clearances

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Job Description

The Rights & Clearances Lead is responsible for managing all aspects of rights, licensing, and clearances for our original and third-party content. In addition, this role will assist in building out a data management system that supports our digital growth strategy and our evolving needs. This is a key position that ensures our content is legally compliant and distribution-ready from day one.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the rights and clearances process for all content, both digital and broadcast;

• Oversee the securing of necessary licenses for music, footage, images, trademarks, talent, and other third-party materials;

• Maintain contracts with licensors, agencies, and rights holders;

• Support the build out of a centralized tracking system for rights status, expiration dates, usage limitations, and associated documents;

• Partner closely with Legal, Production, Post-Production, and Creative teams to proactively flag and resolve potential clearance issues; support Communications in building out marketing plan for all monetizable assets;

• Conduct training and build best practices for internal teams on rights and clearance processes;

• Stay up-to-date on industry trends and legal developments around copyright, fair use, and content licensing;

• Other relevant duties, as assigned.

The ideal candidate will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and will be highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple projects under tight deadlines. Additional qualifications include:

• Minimum 6 years of experience in rights & clearances, preferably in television, film, or digital media;

• Deep expertise of rights management systems and/or databases, required;

• Solid understanding of copyright, licensing, and media law fundamentals;

• Experience clearing music, footage, stills, and talent for multi-platform distribution.

It is the policy of WNET not to discriminate against any applicant for employment, or any employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, veteran status or any classification protected by law.

The WNET Group offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment.  Salary ranges are based on benchmarked nonprofit and industry related data provided by an outside consulting firm and are commensurate with skills and experience. The hiring salary range for this position is $80,000.00 - $93,000.00.  Internal equity considerations will be reviewed before making a final offer.