1. Purpose and scope
This Copyright Enforcement Policy explains how Sonproof, acting as the authorised agent of its clients, identifies potentially infringing uses of music, verifies them, and sends claims, monetisation requests, blocking instructions and takedown notices to online platforms. It applies to every enforcement action sent through the Sonproof platform, on every platform we cover, in every territory.
Our guiding principle is simple: we only act on what we can prove, and we stand behind every action we send. False or careless enforcement harms rights holders, creators and platforms alike, exposes everyone involved to legal liability, and undermines the legitimacy of rights protection. This policy exists to make such actions rare, and fully traceable when they occur.
2. Our role
Sonproof acts as the authorised agent of the rights holder (our client). When we send a notice, we do so in the client's name and on the client's instruction, and we make the statements the relevant process requires on the client's behalf. We are not a platform, a collecting society, a court, or a rights holder in our own right. Whether content is ultimately monetised, blocked, removed or restored is decided by the platform under its own rules and applicable law.
3. Before any enforcement: rights verification
No work is enrolled for enforcement until we have verified, to a reasonable standard, that our client owns or controls the relevant rights or is authorised to act for the rights holder. Verification includes:
- Identity - confirmation of the client entity and its authorised signatories.
- Chain of title - recording agreements, assignments, distribution agreements, publishing agreements, or catalog-acquisition documents, as relevant.
- Authority to act - where the client is not the rights holder (e.g. a distributor or administrator), a Letter of Authorisation or equivalent from the rights holder.
- Separation of rights - sound recording (master) rights and musical composition (publishing) rights are registered, verified and enforced separately. A client authorised only for masters cannot instruct composition-level enforcement, and vice versa.
- Scope - territories, term, exclusivity and any limitations on the client's rights, which are encoded into enforcement rules so that actions are not sent outside the client's authority.
We may decline or suspend enforcement on any work where documentation is insufficient, contested, or out of date.
4. Detection is not a decision
Our fingerprinting and similarity systems generate candidate matches with a match score, segment map and transformation analysis (speed, pitch, key, edits, AI-generated derivation). A match is a technical signal that a use may involve a client's work. It is never, by itself, a finding of infringement, and no action is sent on the basis of a score alone.
5. Human review standard
Every candidate match that could lead to an enforcement action is reviewed by a trained Sonproof reviewer, who must confirm each of the following before the case can be approved:
- The match is genuine - the reviewer listens to and compares the matched segment against the registered work.
- The client's rights cover this use - the right type (master/composition), territory and term are within the client's verified authority.
- The use is not authorised - the uploader is not on the client's whitelist; the use is not covered by a known licence, platform-level blanket licence, or settlement; and the client has not flagged the use as permitted.
- No obvious exception applies - the reviewer considers whether the use is plausibly fair use (US), fair dealing, quotation, criticism, review, parody, pastiche, news reporting, incidental inclusion or another exception under the law of the relevant territory. Cases that raise such questions are escalated to a senior reviewer and, where appropriate, to the client for a decision with legal input, rather than actioned automatically.
- The action is proportionate and correct for the platform - for example, a monetisation claim rather than a removal where the client's policy and the platform's program allow it; or no action where the platform provides no appropriate route.
Reviewer decisions, the basis for them, and any escalation are recorded in the case audit log.
6. Client approval
After review, an action is sent only with the client's approval - either case-by-case, or under standing instructions the client has configured for defined categories (e.g. "monetise verified exact matches on YouTube"). Standing instructions never bypass human review, never apply to escalated cases, and can be changed by the client at any time. The client's approval is recorded with the user, time and the case state at the moment of approval.
7. What we send, and through which channel
We use only the channels each platform actually provides. We do not circumvent platform processes, and we do not represent that we can remove content where no such route exists.
| Channel | Typical platforms | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Rights-management programs | YouTube Content ID / Studio Content Manager; Meta Rights Manager | Deliver reference files; apply the client's policy (monetise, track, block) to matches; release or adjust claims; handle disputes within the program, all subject to program eligibility and terms |
| Statutory notice-and-takedown | Most UGC, social, streaming, download and live platforms; hosting providers; search engines | Send notices that satisfy the applicable regime (see Section 8), one notice per identified item, with all required elements, accurate identification and an authorised signature |
| Distributor-level withdrawal | Streaming services and download stores | Where the client or its distributor delivered the content, request withdrawal or correction through the delivery channel |
| Reference-database registration | Audio-first and live platforms with third-party scanning | Register client references so uploads are blocked or muted at upload, subject to the platform's and vendor's rules |
| Direct rights-holder contact | Specialist stores, apps, sync and in-app uses | Contact the operator with evidence and a request to remove or license, where no formal process exists |
8. Legal frameworks we operate under
8.1 United States - DMCA, 17 U.S.C. §512
Notices sent to US service providers contain the elements required by §512(c)(3)(A): a physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act for the owner of the exclusive right; identification of the copyrighted work(s); identification of the infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to locate it; contact information for the complaining party; a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent or the law; and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and the complainant is authorised to act. We maintain procedures to ensure the good-faith statement is true when made, including the human-review standard above, and we are aware that §512(f) imposes liability for knowing material misrepresentation. We comply with the counter-notification process of §512(g) (see the Counter-Notice Policy).
8.2 European Union
Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), Article 16. Notices to hosting providers in the EU are "sufficiently precise and adequately substantiated": they explain why the content is illegal, give the exact URL(s), identify the notifier, and include a good-faith statement of accuracy and completeness. Where Sonproof holds trusted-flagger status (Art. 22) in a member state, we use it only within its terms. Copyright Directive (EU) 2019/790, Article 17. For online content-sharing service providers we provide the "relevant and necessary information" (reference files and rights data) that enables platforms to meet their best-efforts obligations, and we request expeditious removal and stay-down of notified works where the Directive and national law provide.
8.3 Other jurisdictions
Outside the US and EU we follow the notice requirements of the relevant national law and platform policy (for example, the UK's Electronic Commerce Regulations, Australia's Copyright Act safe-harbour scheme, Brazil's Marco Civil, and platform-specific procedures). Where a platform's process is stricter than the law, we follow the platform's process.
9. Accuracy, correction and withdrawal
If we learn that an action was sent in error - for example, the use was licensed, the client's rights did not cover it, the match was a false positive, or an exception clearly applies - we withdraw or release the action promptly, notify the client, and record the reason. We do not wait for a counter-notice to correct our own mistakes. Clients may at any time instruct us to release a claim or withdraw a notice, and we will do so as quickly as the platform's process allows.
10. Disputes and counter-notices
Disputes raised within rights-management programs and counter-notices under statutory regimes are handled in accordance with our Counter-Notice Policy. In summary: we review every dispute on its merits, release the action where the dispute has merit, and maintain it only where the client's rights and the facts support it. We never escalate a dispute (for example, to a formal DMCA takedown after a Content ID dispute) without renewed human review and client approval.
11. Repeat abuse and misuse of the Service
We monitor the accuracy of actions sent on behalf of each client. If a client repeatedly approves actions that are released on dispute, instructs enforcement against licensed uses, or fails to keep rights documentation and whitelists current, we may require additional review steps, suspend standing instructions, suspend enforcement for that client, or terminate the relationship. Platforms may also suspend program access for inaccurate use; protecting that access for all clients is a priority.
12. Records and transparency
Every case carries a complete audit trail: detection data, match evidence, reviewer decisions and reasoning, client approvals, the content of every notice or claim sent, platform responses, disputes and their resolution. Records are retained for the periods set out in our Privacy Policy. We publish our matching methodology and aggregate accuracy statistics, and we provide clients with per-catalog accuracy and outcome reporting. We do not publish headline accuracy figures that cannot be traced to a methodology.
13. Contact
Questions about an enforcement action sent by Sonproof, including requests for the underlying evidence by the uploader concerned: enforcement@sonproof.com. Please quote the case reference from the notice you received. Counter-notices and disputes: see the Counter-Notice Policy.