Companies, brands and agencies regularly produce promotional videos or Reels and add a popular song that is currently trending on the platform.
The underlying assumption is usually simple: “I am using music provided by the platform itself, so there cannot be a copyright problem.”
That assumption can be dangerously misleading.
In practice, blanket licensing agreements concluded between platforms such as Instagram or TikTok and collecting societies or other organisations representing authors, composers, performers and phonogram producers do not necessarily cover every form of commercial use. Depending on the scope of the relevant licence, business-related uses may fall outside the protection afforded by the platform’s general music licence.
This means that using music suggested by the platform’s own algorithm for a Reel or short-form video may, depending on the purpose and context of the video, exceed the scope of the available licence and potentially expose the business to copyright or related-rights claims.
What Actually Counts as “Commercial Use”?
Many businesses assume that a post is not commercial unless it directly advertises a product, contains a purchase link or has been promoted through paid advertising.
The legal position is more complex.
Article 17 of the EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market distinguishes, in particular, between uses by individuals acting on a non-commercial basis and other forms of exploitation. Accordingly, the fact that content is “organic” rather than sponsored does not automatically mean that it is non-commercial.
Examples of potentially commercial uses may include:
- organic Reels intended to increase brand awareness;
- product-placement or public-relations content;
- influencer posts that increase the commercial value or engagement of a professional profile, even where no direct payment is received for the particular post;
- and even the familiar “fun Friday office video” published to strengthen a company’s corporate image.
In other words, the absence of an immediate sales transaction does not necessarily make the use private or non-commercial.
A company account exists, by its very nature, within a commercial context. Content posted from such an account may contribute to visibility, reputation, customer engagement or brand value even where the post does not explicitly promote a particular product or service.
Platform Availability Is Not the Same as a Licence for Every Use
One of the most persistent misunderstandings in social-media marketing is the assumption that the technical availability of a song within a platform’s music library amounts to permission for every conceivable use.
It does not.
Copyright licensing is always defined by scope. Relevant questions include who may use the music, for what purpose, on which type of account, in which territory, for how long and in connection with which form of exploitation.
The central legal question is therefore not:
“Was the song available in Instagram’s or TikTok’s library?”
The more important question is:
“Was this particular use, by this particular user, for this particular commercial purpose, actually covered by the relevant licence?”
That distinction is essential.
A Song Involves More Than One Layer of Rights
The legal analysis becomes even more complex because a commercially released song normally involves several distinct rights.
There may be rights in the musical composition and lyrics, but also neighbouring or related rights in the sound recording and the performance. In practical terms, this means that the rights of the composer or lyricist are only one part of the licensing structure.
The producer of the master recording and the performing artist may hold separate rights that also need to be taken into account.
For commercial uses, it is therefore not sufficient simply to ask whether “the song” is licensed in a general sense. The relevant layers of rights must be cleared to the extent required by the contemplated use.
The Turkish Copyright Perspective
The same basic problem arises under Turkish copyright law.
A use made through a company or professional business account will generally be difficult to characterise as purely personal use within the meaning of Article 38 of the Turkish Copyright Act, FSEK.
Where music is incorporated into content that serves corporate communication, promotion, visibility or other business-related purposes, reliance on exceptions intended for private or personal use will usually be problematic.
This is particularly important for companies using social-media accounts as part of their marketing and communication infrastructure.
A Transparency Problem for Platforms
There is also a broader regulatory issue.
Platforms encourage users to add music by actively recommending songs through their interfaces and algorithms. For ordinary users, the distinction between music that is cleared for personal use and music that may create licensing problems in a commercial context is often far from obvious.
For businesses, this creates a significant compliance risk.
A company may select music precisely because the platform has made it readily available, only to discover later that the relevant use was not covered by the applicable licence.
This raises an important policy question:
Should platforms such as Instagram and TikTok be required to provide clearer warnings where particular music is not licensed for commercial or business-related use?
A visible notice — for example, a clear warning attached to tracks whose use is restricted in commercial contexts — could substantially reduce legal uncertainty.
Conclusion
The key copyright question for businesses is not whether music is technically available on a social-media platform.
The real question is whether the music has been licensed for that particular type of use and for that particular commercial purpose.
For companies, agencies and professional creators, the distinction between platform availability and actual legal clearance is therefore crucial.
A seemingly harmless office Reel intended merely to make a brand appear more approachable may still amount to a commercially relevant use of protected music.
And in copyright law, a cheerful Friday video can sometimes return on Monday in a rather less cheerful form: as a legal claim.