A producer should only consider coproduction after assessing the project's needs and objectives and the benefits to each party. Treaty coproductions also simplify the administrative and regulatory paperwork around moving goods, services and equipment between coproducing countries. The agreement is negotiated between private parties, and sets out such basic terms as minimum financial, creative and technical participation from each country and conditions for participation by third parties. There are three essential source materials that illuminate the legal framework for structuring coproductions. In structuring a coproduction, the parties must be aware that the financial, artistic, technical and creative benefits and ownership of the coproduction must reflect overall balance equitable to all parties in order to obtain all approvals.
Treaties also require that all services be provided by nationals of the coproducing countries.
It is possible to include an actor who is not a national of the coproducing countries provided it is required by the distributors as a licence condition. Coproducers share responsibility for exploiting the completed production. Exploitation within a producer's home country is the responsibility of that producer, and the proceeds from such exploitation generally belong to that producer. Receipts from exploitation in other countries are customarily split between coproducers in proportion to their contribution to the budget. Typically, copyright is shared in proportion to the contribution to the financing, while domestic use of the copyright is owned by the respective coproducers exclusively.