Warner Music Group Corp.

Current report

We face a potential loss of catalog to the extent that our recording artists or songwriters have a right to recapture rights in their recordings or musical compositions under the U.S. Copyright Act.

Current report

The U.S. Copyright Act provides authors (or their heirs) a right to terminate U.S. licenses or assignments of rights in their copyrighted works in certain circumstances. This right does not apply to works that are “works made for hire.” Since the enactment of the Sound Recordings Act of 1971, which first accorded federal copyright protection for sound recordings in the U.S., virtually all of our agreements with recording artists provide that such recording artists render services under a work-made-for-hire relationship. A termination right exists under the U.S. Copyright Act for U.S. rights in musical compositions that are not “works made for hire.” If any of our commercially available sound recordings were determined not to be “works made for hire,” then the recording artists (or their heirs) could have the right to terminate the U.S. federal copyright rights they granted to us, generally during a five-year period starting at the end of 35 years from the date of release of a recording under a post-1977 license or assignment (or, in the case of a pre-1978 grant in a pre-1978 recording, generally during a five-year period starting at the end of 56 years from the date of copyright). A termination of U.S. federal copyright rights could have an adverse effect on our Recorded Music business. From time to time, authors (or their heirs) have the opportunity to terminate our U.S. rights in musical compositions. We believe the effect of any potential terminations is already reflected in the financial results of our business.

Current report

On January 12, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Vetter v. Resnik Music Group affirmed a district court decision holding that statutory termination of a copyright grant and contingent copyright renewal rights apply worldwide and are not limited to rights in the United States. The decision represents an expansion of U.S. copyright law as currently understood, and could have significant implications under international agreements and treaties, as well as devalue foreign copyright grants. We expect that the decision will be further appealed, but we continue to evaluate the impact that the decision would have on our business, which impact could be material.