COPYRIGHT AND DMCA POLICY
Musixmatch s.p.a (“we“, “us” and “our”) respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. Although we have provided a brief overview of copyright below, this policy is not intended to be legal advice.
What is copyright?
When a person or company creates original artistic, literary, musical or dramatic material in a tangible medium, whether it be in a recording of song lyrics, a novel, a computer program, a photograph or a film, the creator will automatically own the copyright in that work. Copyright protection gives the copyright owner the right to control the use of the material. Some forms of work contain several different forms of copyright owned by different people. While a music track may appear to be a single work, the copyright in the musical composition (including the lyrics) will usually be owned by the songwriter or artist, and copyright in the sound recording will usually be owned by the performing artist’s record label.
How do I avoid copyright infringement?
It’s simple; if material is created by someone other than you and you have not been authorized to use the material, then do not use it. Giving credit to the copyright owner or stating that you did not intend to infringe copyright will not act as a valid defense. If you do decide to use another person’s work, ensure that you have obtained the necessary permissions first. This will often be in the form of a license obtained from the copyright owner(s) that you may have to pay for.
What do I do if my copyright has been infringed?
If you believe that your work, or the work of someone you are authorized to represent, has been uploaded to: (i) our website www.musixmatch.com; (ii) our related application; and/or (iii) any services offered in relation to our website and application (collectively referred to as “Musixmatch”), without your authorization, or in any other way that constitutes copyright infringement, you should notify us of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the procedure below.
1. Please provide a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information:
• a statement that you have identified works which infringe your copyright, or the copyright of a third party on whose behalf you are entitled to act;
• identification of the location of such works in sufficient detail so we can verify their existence;
• a description of the copyright works that you claim have been infringed;
• your full name, address and telephone number and a valid email address on which you can be contacted;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the disputed use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner of, or otherwise authorized to act on behalf of the owner of, the copyright work that is allegedly infringed.
2. Please send the notice containing the above information by email (publishers-support@musixmatch.com), postal mail (Musixmatch s.p.a, Via Timavo 34, 50122 Milano Italy) or fax (+3905118899165).
3. It is our policy to: (i) block access to or remove material that we believe in good faith to be copyright works that have been illegally copied and distributed by any of our advertisers, affiliates, content providers, members or users; and (ii) terminate repeat offenders’ use of Musixmatch.
4. If you believe that someone else on whose behalf you are not authorized to act has had their copyright infringed, you can inform them and direct them to this policy.
If you also wish your notice to be considered as a notice in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) you should comply with the additional steps below:
1. Please also include the following in your notice:
• a statement made under penalty of perjury that the information you have provided is accurate and that you as the notifying party are authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner;
• your physical or electronic signature (a scanned copy of your signature is acceptable).
2. Please send the notice containing the above information to our designated agent to receive notification of claimed copyright infringement (“Designated Agent”) Gianluca delli Carri by email (publishers-support@musixmatch.com), postal mail (Musixmatch s.p.a, Via Timavo 34, 50122 Milano Italy) or fax (+3905118899165).
3. Please only inform us of genuine claims of copyright infringement. You may be held liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you make an unsubstantiated claim.
4. In accordance with the DMCA, once a bona fide infringement notification is received by the Designated Agent, it is our policy:
• to remove or disable access to the infringing material;
• to notify the alleged infringing content provider that access to the material has been disabled or the material has been removed; and
• that repeat offenders will have the infringing material removed from the system and their access to Musixmatch will be terminated.
Counter-notices
If the content provider believes that the material that was removed or to which access was disabled is either not infringing, or he/she believes that he/she has the right to post and use such material from the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent, or pursuant to the law, the content provider must send a counter-notice.
1. The counter notice should contain the following information for the Designated Agent:
• the content provider’s physical or electronic signature’
• identification of the material that has been removed or to which access to has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;
• a statement that the content provider has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the material; and
• the content provider’s name, address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address and a statement that such person or entity consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court for the judicial district in which the content provider’s address is located, or if the content provider’s address is located outside the United States, for any judicial district in which Musixmatch is located, and that such person or entity will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.
2. If a counter-notice is received by the Designated Agent, we may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that it may replace the removed material or cease disabling.
3. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider the removed material may be replaced or access to it restored at our discretion.
[Last Updated January 2014]
