When submitting a release with MusicHub, before it can be approved it must first go through various manual and automated checks. The release metadata and artwork are checked by our quality control team, after which the audio files are scanned by audio-checking software. One reason that the audio files are scanned is to check whether a recording contains any copyrighted material.
What do we mean by copyrighted material?
What we mean here is that your recording contains audio that has already been officially published. This could be anything from the entire track to a tiny sample. Some common examples of releases that contain copyrighted material:
The release you are publishing with MusicHub was previously published by another distributor, or in another format (CD, vinyl, etc).
You have used taken audio from a recording that belongs to someone else and included it in your recording. For example, you sampled a classic soul track to create a hip hop beat.
You have bought a legitimate sample pack and used it to create all or part of your track.
What happens if my recording is found to contain copyrighted material?
When our audio-checking software identifies copyrighted material within a recording, that release is rejected and sent back to the user with a message to contact customer support. A customer support agent will then check with you as to the source of your copyrighted material.
You will be asked to provide proof that your use of the copyrighted material is legitimate (e.g. provide the licences for any samples, or provide proof that you are simply re-releasing your own material). Once the proof has been provided you will be able to resubmit your release. However, if you cannot provide proof that you have permission to use the copyrighted material, you will not be able to re-submit your release.
Why do we perform this check ?
We perform this check in order to protect both you and other artists from potential copyright infringements. On the one hand, every artist has the right to have their work protected from others using it without permission. On the other hand, because the use of samples has become so mainstream, many artists do not understand the legalities behind using samples as part of their recordings. Using a sample without permission, even if you do so by mistake, can create serious legal problems, and so we try to catch these cases before they become officially published.
If you are currently reading this as instructed by a rejection email or customer support message, you can hopefully now be able to understand what kind of information we might need.