Someone Used Your Song Without Permission: Ask, Take It Down or File a Claim?

You are scrolling and you hear your own song. It is in a video, on someone else's release or behind an ad, and you never agreed to it. Your first feeling is anger. Your best first step is to slow down.

This guide gives the steps in order: check, save proof, ask, send a takedown and, if you want money, use the small-claims route. It is general information about U.S. copyright law, not legal advice, and other countries have their own rules. For anything large, talk to a copyright or music attorney.

Step 1: Check whether it is licensed

Some uses that look wrong turn out to be licensed. Open your records. On Starchild, sales show in the dashboard as they happen, and every license comes with a certificate naming the writers, which anyone can check at /verify. If the user says they bought a license, ask for the certificate and check it.

Then compare the use with what the license covers. A standard license and the royalty-free buyout cover the buyer's own recording and release, their own videos (music video, lyric video, Reels and YouTube, monetized too), live performance and promoting themselves and their music, including their own ads. An ad for a brand or product, a film, TV and other commercial placements need a sync license. Our guide to sync and performance licenses explains the difference. If you licensed the song elsewhere, such as to a publisher, a library or a co-writer, check those agreements too.

Step 2: Save proof before you contact anyone

• The link, the date and time you found it, and screenshots or a screen recording. Posts can disappear.
• Proof that you wrote the song: dated drafts, session files, the lyric sheet and any registrations with your PRO (performing rights organization), The MLC or the Copyright Office.
• Your licensing records: who you have licensed the song to, and when.

The Copyright Office's FAQ says a registration made within five years of publication counts as prima facie evidence in court, and that mailing yourself a copy, the so-called poor man's copyright, is not a substitute for registration.

Step 3: Ask first

A short, polite message is a sound start. Say which song it is, where you found it, that it is not licensed, and what you want: removal, or a license that covers the use. Keep it factual and save the reply. For example: 'Hi, I wrote [song title]. I found it at [link] on [date], and I have not licensed it for this use. Could you take it down, or would you like to talk about a license?'

If the user is a fan or a small creator who did not know better, a license may be the best result, because you are paid and the song is used properly. If they ignore you, or the use is commercial, move to a takedown.

Step 4: Send a takedown notice

Section 512 of the Copyright Act sets out what a takedown notice must contain:

• your signature, physical or electronic, as the owner or someone authorized to act for the owner;
• identification of your song;
• identification of the material and enough information to locate it;
• your contact information;
• a statement that you have a good faith belief the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent or the law;
• a statement that the information is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act for the owner.

You rarely need to write it from scratch. YouTube's form, in YouTube Studio under Content detection and New removal request, asks for your contact details, a description of the song, direct links, two legal statements and your full legal name as a signature. It tells you to consider whether fair use, public domain or a similar exception applies, and you may be asked to confirm you did. You can schedule the removal to take effect in 7 days, which gives the uploader time to act. Spotify accepts notices through a web form or by email and asks for the same information. Both warn that fraudulent reports can lead to account termination or other legal consequences.

Be accurate. Section 512(f) makes anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing liable for the damages, costs and attorneys' fees of the person accused. The user can answer with a counter-notice. Under Section 512(g), the platform then restores the material not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days after receiving it, unless it first hears that you have filed a court action against the user.

Content ID is a different tool. A song that other artists may be licensed to use should not be enrolled in it; our guide to using a licensed song in videos explains why.

Step 5: If you want money, consider the Copyright Claims Board

The Copyright Claims Board (CCB) is a voluntary alternative to federal court for copyright disputes. Its FAQ gives the basics:

• Total damages are capped at $30,000, and statutory damages at $15,000 per work. You can choose actual damages and profits instead.
• You do not need a lawyer to file or respond.
• You need a registration or a submitted application for the work. If you file the application first, you can request expedited review for a fee.
• The other side can opt out, and then your option is federal court.
• The time limit for an infringement claim is three years from when the infringing activity took place.
• The CCB cannot order someone to stop. A requirement to stop can be included only if the party has agreed to it.

Registration matters beyond the CCB. A suit over a U.S. work generally cannot be filed until the work is registered (Section 411(a)). Statutory damages and attorney's fees are not available for infringement that began before registration, unless you registered within three months after first publication (Section 412). Our guide to what it costs to copyright a song covers fees and the cheapest way to register a catalog. Check the Copyright Office's fee page, since the schedule may have changed.

When to call a lawyer

Call a copyright or music attorney if the use is large, such as a paid ad, a film or a major release. Call one if the other side hires a lawyer, if someone says you do not own the song, or if you get a counter-notice and want to go to court.

Get ready before it happens

• Register your best songs, and keep a dated folder for each one.
• Keep a simple license log: song, buyer, date and certificate.
• Check that your name is on the credits when a licensed song is released. Our guide to finding out when an artist has released your licensed song helps.

Sources

• U.S. Copyright Office: Title 17, Chapter 5, Copyright Infringement and Remedies (Section 512)
• U.S. Copyright Office: Title 17, Chapter 4, Copyright Notice, Deposit, and Registration (Sections 411 and 412)
• U.S. Copyright Office: General Questions (FAQ)
• Copyright Claims Board: Frequently Asked Questions
• YouTube Help: Submit a copyright removal request
• Spotify: Spotify Intellectual Property Policy