Rights are often held by different parties in different countries. Territory is part of every right and must be recorded precisely.
Rights to a work are frequently granted by territory: a party may control a work in some countries and not in others. Anyone who manages content, licenses it or asserts a claim needs to understand this.
A statement of rights is incomplete unless it says what right, where, for how long and whether it is exclusive. The "where" part is the territory. A territory can be a single country, a group of countries, or "everywhere except" a list.
Never assume that rights are worldwide. A licence might cover only a few countries, and another party may hold the same rights elsewhere. If a record says "worldwide", there should be evidence to support it.
Platforms are global, while licences are not. When a rights holder uses a tool such as Content ID, the ownership information it supplies, including territories, shapes where its policies apply. Policy should apply only where the rights holder actually controls the content. The official page on using Content ID describes how ownership is handled within the programme; tools of this kind are available only to eligible rights holders and approved partners, not to every account.
For music, the sound recording and the composition are separate rights and may be held by different parties, with different territories for each. Synchronisation permission is another layer.
Conceptual only. Check each contract.
Rules and tools are set by YouTube and partners' agreements and can change. See the Advanced Rights Management course for the wider picture.