Song

Copyright Policy

Draft for legal review — not yet in force. See legal/README.md.

Song hosts music that people upload. Most of it is theirs to upload. Occasionally something is not,

and this is what happens then.

Reporting infringement

Send a notice to copyright@finalverse.org, or to our designated agent below. To be effective, a

notice needs:

  1. Your physical or electronic signature.
  2. Identification of the work you say is infringed.
  3. Identification of the material on Song you say infringes it, with **enough detail for us to find

it** — a URL is best.

  1. Your contact details.
  2. A statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorised by the rights holder,

its agent, or the law.

  1. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and — under penalty of perjury —

that you are authorised to act for the rights holder.

Designated agent: [NAME], [ADDRESS], copyright@finalverse.org

Registered with the U.S. Copyright Office at [REGISTRATION URL].

This registration must exist before the safe harbour does. A policy document does not create
it. See legal/README.md.

What we do when a notice arrives

We act expeditiously. Depending on what is claimed and how clear it is, we will:

  • Remove the work, or
  • Restrict its circulation — unlist it from search and the sitemap, disable its embed, block

downloads and exports, or make it visible only to the uploader — while the claim is assessed.

Restriction exists because removal is not always the proportionate first step, and because an

embedded work spreading while a dispute runs is the harm a rights holder actually cares about.

Stopping the spread quickly is often better for everyone than deleting first and arguing later.

We will tell the uploader what we did and why, and give them the notice, unless the law forbids it.

Counter-notice

If your work was removed or restricted and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification,

send a counter-notice to the same address containing:

  1. Your signature.
  2. Identification of the material and where it was before removal.
  3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith it was removed as a

result of mistake or misidentification.

  1. Your contact details and consent to the jurisdiction of the appropriate court.

We will forward it to the complainant. If they do not file an action within the statutory period, we

may restore the material.

Misuse of this process

Sending a notice that knowingly misrepresents that material is infringing carries liability under

§512(f). Takedown is not a tool for suppressing criticism, competition, or a work you simply dislike.

Repeat infringers

Accounts that repeatedly infringe are terminated. We keep a record of valid notices against each

account, and this policy is enforced rather than merely stated — the safe harbour depends on that

being true.

Public domain, editions, and honest labelling

Much of the music on Song is old enough to be out of copyright. Two distinctions decide whether that

is actually true for a given file:

  • The work versus the edition. A composition can be in the public domain while a particular

engraving, arrangement, translation, or critical edition of it is not. Song records these

separately, and asks you to as well.

  • Where. Copyright terms differ by country. "Public domain" without a jurisdiction is an

incomplete claim, and Song's metadata is designed to make you name one.

Getting this wrong is the most common way a well-meaning upload infringes. It is worth the minute it

takes to check.