Can a Business Use Popular Music in Instagram Reels and TikTok Videos?

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

Usually not without a license, and a brand that already did is probably liable. Adding a popular song to a promotional Reel or TikTok reproduces and distributes a copyrighted work, and good intentions are not a defense to liability. (17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 501(a).) The platforms' consumer music libraries generally do not cover business promotion. Each registered work can carry statutory damages of $750 to $30,000, more if willful. (17 U.S.C. § 504(c).) Kolmogorov Law, P.C. defends brands and agencies in Orange County, Los Angeles, and across California.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss a music demand letter before you delete posts or reply to the claimant.

Why a business cannot rely on the Instagram or TikTok music library

The confusion is understandable: the app offers the song, a button adds it to the video, and millions of people use it every day.

As the platforms describe their music libraries, popular songs are licensed from labels and publishers for users' personal posts. Their current terms generally carve out commercial use, and business accounts are usually steered to a separate library of tracks cleared for that use. A brand that reaches the popular catalog anyway, through a personal account or an uploaded audio file, is probably outside whatever the platform licensed. The terms change often, so read the current ones.

At least one court has not been sympathetic. In a federal trial court case outside California, a consumer brand argued that it believed the platform had licensed the music in its videos. The court entered summary judgment on liability for the posts on the brand's own accounts and said that belief mattered, at most, to damages.

Two copyrights in every track

A recorded song contains two separate works. The musical work is the composition: melody and lyrics. The sound recording is the particular recorded performance. The statute lists them as different categories. (17 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2), (7).)

They usually have different owners, with a music publisher typically controlling the composition and a record label the recording. That is why one Reel can produce two demand letters, and why settling with the publisher does not settle with the label.

The recording right is narrower in one useful way. It covers only the actual recorded sounds. It does not reach an independent recording of other sounds, even one that imitates the original. (17 U.S.C. § 114(b).) A cover version therefore avoids the label's claim but not the publisher's.

Why "everyone does it" fails

I hear three explanations from marketing teams. Everyone uses trending audio. We credited the artist. We only used fifteen seconds.

None is a defense by itself. Infringement does not depend on how common the practice is, and credit is not permission. A short clip is usually still a copy, unless an ordinary listener would not recognize it. Fair use is rarely available when a whole hook is used to sell a product.

Deleting the post does not erase the claim either. A civil action may be brought within three years after the claim accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) Owners increasingly use automated tools to find old posts, so a letter may arrive long after the campaign ended.

One more risk sits beside copyright. If the post uses the artist's name, image, or voice to promote a product, a California right of publicity claim may follow.

Influencer and agency posts made for the brand

Brands are also pursued for posts they did not publish, on a theory of vicarious liability. A defendant is vicariously liable when it has the legal right and practical ability to stop the infringing conduct and derives a direct financial benefit from it. (Range Road Music, Inc. v. East Coast Foods, Inc. (9th Cir. 2012) 668 F.3d 1148, 1155.)

A paid influencer agreement with approval rights looks like control. In the trial court case described above, the court found the control element met because the brand reviewed the videos and could withhold payment. It still denied summary judgment on those posts, because a direct financial benefit had not yet been shown.

Agency contracts matter here. Many promise that the agency's work will not infringe and that it will indemnify the brand. Read that clause before you answer the letter, and give the agency prompt written notice.

What the exposure looks like

Statutory damages are counted per work, not per post. The owner may elect an award of $750 to $30,000 for all infringements in the action with respect to any one work, and up to $150,000 if the infringement was willful. The floor can drop to $200 for an infringer who proves it neither knew nor had reason to believe it was infringing. (17 U.S.C. § 504(c).) Twenty posts using one song are generally one work. Twenty different songs can be twenty.

Where the composition and the recording have different owners, each has its own claim.

Statutory damages and attorney fees generally require that the work was registered before the infringement began, or within three months after first publication. (17 U.S.C. § 412.) Major labels and publishers usually register, but ask for the certificates anyway. Without timely registration, the owner's money recovery is limited to actual damages and the infringer's attributable profits. (17 U.S.C. § 504(b).)

Our page on statutory damages and attorney fees explains how courts pick a number within the range.

Cleaning up and negotiating

Order matters. Before anything is removed, export a list of every post that used third-party music, with dates, accounts, view counts, and the audio used. Then remove the audio or the posts. Deleting first destroys the record you need to evaluate the claim and can look like concealment.

Next, check the claimant's list against your own. Does the claimant own each work it names? Which right, the composition or the recording? Is each claim within three years of when the owner discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the post? Were any made by an agency or influencer who owes you indemnity?

Then negotiate on facts. Demands are often priced per post, while the statute counts per work. A settlement should release both the listed posts and any others using the same works, and it should name every entity that owns a share.

Finally, fix the process. Use licensed production music, commission original tracks, or clear specific songs in writing. Music played inside your premises raises a different license, covered on our page on ASCAP and BMI letters. Claims that arrive through YouTube's own tools are covered on our page on copyright strikes and Content ID.

What to bring to the first meeting

The demand letter and any schedule of posts or works attached to it.
An export of your accounts' posts that used music, with dates and view counts.
Agency, freelancer, and influencer agreements.
Any music licenses or subscription terms you relied on.
Your insurance policies, so we can check whether any coverage responds.

Frequently asked questions

Can a business use music on Instagram?

A business can use music it has licensed for commercial use, including tracks from the libraries the platforms currently offer for commercial use. Using a popular commercial song in promotional content without a license is generally copyright infringement under federal law, which applies to California businesses like any others. (17 U.S.C. §§ 106, 501(a).) Check the platform's current music terms for your account type.

Our brand's Instagram account used popular songs in Reels. Now a music publisher is demanding payment. Are we liable?

Probably, for the posts on your own account, if the songs were used without a commercial license. Liability does not require intent. A California brand should preserve a record of the posts, remove the audio, confirm the publisher's ownership and registrations, and negotiate per work. Expect a separate claim from the record label that owns the recordings.

How much can a label or publisher recover for a song in a social media ad?

For a timely registered work, statutory damages generally run from $750 to $30,000 per work, and up to $150,000 if the infringement was willful, plus possible attorney fees. (17 U.S.C. §§ 504(c), 505.) The count is per work, not per post. A California court sets the figure within that range based on the conduct.

Is my company liable for music an influencer added to a sponsored post?

It can be. Under Ninth Circuit law, a company is vicariously liable for another's infringement when it has the right and ability to stop it and receives a direct financial benefit. A California brand that pays for and approves the content may be exposed, and one that reposts it is using the music itself. Contracts should require cleared music and indemnity.

We took the videos down as soon as we got the letter. Does that end the copyright claim?

No. Removal stops further infringement and may help show good faith, but the owner can still sue over past use for three years after the claim accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) For a California business, the better sequence is to document the posts first, then remove them, then negotiate a written release.

Talk to a California copyright defense attorney

If a label or publisher has sent your company a demand over music in social media posts, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents businesses in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California.

This page provides general information about federal copyright law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the works, the platform terms in effect, the facts, and the court.