Clearance & Licensing Manager - News and News+ (Remote)
Job Summary
The Marketing Communications Group oversees advertising and marketing to ensure the flawless development and execution of world-class communications.
The role of a News+ Clearances & Licensing Manager is to oversee clearances and licensing responsibilities for projects in collaboration with the News+ team, News+ Editorial Team, News+ Partner Management team, News+ Marketing team and other adjacent teams, at all stages of the creative and production process to identify rights issues, obtain proper permissions and releases, and propose alternative solutions for News+ initiatives.
Key Qualifications
- 10+ years of relevant content experience at a magazine publishing company, production company, advertising agency, newspaper or at a photographer repping/agency handling editorial work
- Deep subject matter expertise garnered through years of demonstrable, practical experience addressing real-world rights licensing issues in the editorial world and how that co-mingles with marketing of those titles.
- Ability to draw conclusions from working knowledge of issues and risks that impact the area of rights licensing, including copyright and trademark law, union/guild issues, public domain, fair use, defamation, and rights of publicity
- Ability to identify, with accuracy, the spectrum of rights-managed IP frequently found in editorial environments, including but not limited to News+ covers, audio recordings, articles, and logos
- Ability to rights-managed IP frequently found in editorial shoots including but not limited to designer props, wardrobe, artwork, brands, furniture, textiles, patterns, and more
- Proficiency in analyzing and interpreting complex license agreements
- Proficiency in all current document and database systems
- Experience in presenting rights and licensing-related topics to client groups and employees
- Extensive, up-to-date industry knowledge on licensing issues across above-the-line and below-the-line media
- Exceptional organizational, prioritization, and time management skills
- Proactive contributor who can work independently and collaboratively
- Demonstrated ability to lead multiple complex projects simultaneously
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, along with strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to effectively interact with a diverse range of personalities and styles to establish effective relationships across the organization
- Self-motivated, flexible, and comfortable navigating rapid change with poise and decorum in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment
- Excellent negotiation skills
- Ability to handle high-level responsibilities, and comfort in being accountable for decisions
- Dynamic and inquisitive problem solver who consistently seeks solutions through thoughtful questioning and in-depth analysis.
Description
- Collaborate closely with the News+ team, News+ Editorial Team, News+ Partner Management team, News+ Social team, and The Marketing Communications team to understand creative and marketing deliverables, draft production or licensing agreements, and negotiate usage rights for talent, photography, illustrations, and more.
- Conduct copyright and trademark research and facilitate clearance requests.
- Coordinate and execute licensing agreements with external parties within the United States and globally
- Negotiate licenses and permissions with copyright owners of various media
- Provide teams with general Business Affairs support pertaining to their projects.
- Assist in initiating and managing risk-related conversations with cross-functional stakeholders
- Maintain regular communication with team leads to ensure proper information flow, clear action items, and timely issue resolution.
- Utilize existing rights management systems to track and report the availability of programming for distribution to various departments.
- Work alongside Legal to review and draft license agreements.
- Manage a heavy workload of third-party clearances in partnership with a dedicated Digital Asset Manager
- Attend kickoff meetings with creative and production teams
- Engage in validation and localization processes to achieve on-time delivery and scalability of projects across 4 distinct geos where product is available (US, Canada, UK and Australia)
*Contract period and hours may fluctuate based on project needs.
