For composers
What can a composer do after reviewing a potential use?
A match can give you a useful place to start. Once you have reviewed the source and evidence, you can decide whether to document it, check existing permissions, ask a question, discuss a licence or attribution, or take no further action. The next step is yours to choose, based on what the record actually shows and which rights you control.
First, make the record useful
Check the source URL, platform, date, matched track and any available comparison details. Listen to the relevant passage where possible and compare the specific recording or composition, rather than relying on a title, artist name or similarity score alone. Note what you checked and save the available source details so you can revisit the same item later.
Then check your own records: release and distribution terms, existing direct permissions, Creative Commons terms, publisher or label arrangements, and any co-writer or sample clearances. A composer may not control every right in a recording or composition, so confirm who can speak for the relevant rights before offering terms or making a formal request.
If you want a refresher on what the saved match contains, read what a potential-use detection means.
Choose a proportionate next step
Close it or keep watching
If the match is not your work, the use appears covered by a permission you have already granted, or the available details are too thin to support a decision, you can record that conclusion and move on. If useful, keep a note of what would need to change before you review it again.
Ask for context or correct a detail
When the source, version or permission is unclear, consider a neutral request for information through an appropriate platform or rights contact. If the use is authorised but its credit or metadata is wrong, you can ask for a correction and keep the existing permission record with your notes.
Offer a composer-led licence
If you control the relevant rights and want to allow the use, you can propose a direct licence. Describe the work and the intended use, then decide which terms matter to you: platforms and media, territory, duration, edits, monetisation, exclusivity, fee or royalty, reporting, and whether credit is required. Make sure any co-writer, publisher, label or other representative whose approval is needed is included before you agree.
Keep the offer, accepted terms, and any confirmation together. A discussion or draft offer is not itself an issued licence; do not mark a use as licensed until the authorised parties have agreed the terms and the permission is effective under that agreement.
Decide how attribution should work
You can specify the name, link, wording and placement of a credit in a new licence, or check whether an existing licence already sets those requirements. If the use is already permitted but a credit is missing, you may ask for the credit to be corrected. Attribution and permission are separate questions: adding a credit does not, by itself, establish permission to use music or settle a fee.
Use a representative or formal process
If rights are shared, administered by a publisher or collecting society, or the facts remain disputed, check with the relevant representative before acting. If you are considering a platform complaint or other formal step, review the platform’s process and get qualified advice where ownership, exceptions or significant consequences are uncertain.
Keep these four outcomes separate
- Potential-use lead
- A possible match that gives you something to review. It can be mistaken, incomplete or covered by an existing permission.
- Proof of infringement
- A saved match or preliminary review is not a legal finding. Whether infringement occurred depends on the rights, permissions, context and applicable law; a monitoring result does not decide it.
- Licence issued or agreed
- Permission depends on the authorised rights holder and user agreeing the relevant terms. A lead, an outreach message or an unaccepted offer is not a licence.
- Royalties paid
- A payment is a separate event. A licence or a potential use does not show that royalties are due, reported, collected or paid; check the applicable agreement and payment record.
Keep a short decision trail
Record the date you reviewed the lead, what you checked, who controls the relevant rights, what you decided, and any follow-up date or written terms. This makes it easier to distinguish a lead from a later conversation, permission or payment record.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Copyright and licensing rules differ by jurisdiction and by the rights involved. See the UK Intellectual Property Office guidance on licensing copyright and the U.S. Copyright Office guide for musicians for jurisdiction-specific information.