Copyright and DMCA policy

1. What this policy covers

Stillmore Group respects the rights of artists, songwriters, labels and everyone else who owns creative work, and expects the people who distribute through us to do the same. This policy explains how to tell us that a release delivered through Stillmore Group infringes your copyright or other rights, what we do with your notice, how the account concerned can answer, and what happens to accounts that infringe repeatedly.

We handle notices under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) and the equivalent rules in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

It covers releases delivered to stores and services through Stillmore Group, and the pages we host: release pages (smart links) and public label and artist pages. For content that was not delivered through us, or that sits on a website we do not run, contact that website or service directly; we cannot remove it.

2. Before you send a notice

• Check that we delivered it. Store pages usually name the label or distributor in the credits. Our release pages and public pages say "Distributed with Stillmore Group".
• Consider licences and exceptions. The use may be licensed, or allowed under fair use or fair dealing. If you are not sure, take legal advice first.
• Try the artist or label first. Many disputes are settled faster directly.
• Be accurate. Knowingly misrepresenting that material infringes can make you liable for damages and costs, including legal fees (see section 7).

3. How to send a notice

Use our [copyright complaint form](/copyright-complaint). It asks for everything a valid notice needs and gives you a reference number straight away. You can also write to legal@stillmoregroup.com with the subject "Copyright complaint".

A valid notice includes:

1. Your physical or electronic signature, as the rights owner or someone authorised to act for them.
2. The work you say is infringed: for example the recording, composition, artwork or trademark, with a link where possible.
3. The material you say infringes, with enough detail for us to find it: store links, our release page link, the UPC or ISRC.
4. Your name, postal address, telephone number and email address.
5. A statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the rights owner, its agent or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the rights owner or authorised to act on their behalf.

Your notice, including your name and contact details, may be shared with the account that delivered the release so that it can answer.

4. What we do with a notice

• We record it with a reference number and confirm by email.
• A person on our team reviews it. We may ask you for more information; a notice that is incomplete or not about content we delivered may be declined, and we tell you why.
• Where the notice is valid, we open a case with the account that delivered the release. The account is asked to answer by a deadline with proof of its rights, or to remove the content.
• Where the complaint stands, we request removal from the stores and services concerned, and we may remove clear infringements before the account has answered. Stores carry out removals on their own schedule, which we do not control.
• We tell you when the case is opened and when it is resolved.

While a case is open we may hold royalties connected to the release, as our terms of service allow.

5. Counter-notices

If your release was the subject of a notice and you believe it was removed by mistake or misidentification, answer on the case inside your Stillmore Group workspace. A counter-notice must include:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. The material that was removed or disabled, and where it appeared before.
3. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you believe in good faith the material was removed by mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the courts for your address (if you are outside the United States, any judicial district in which Stillmore Group may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the notice or their agent.

We send a valid counter-notice to the person who sent the notice. If they do not tell us within 10 business days that they have started court proceedings to stop the infringement, we may deliver the release again. We are not obliged to restore content, and we may decline where the account has not shown its rights.

6. Repeat infringers

Every complaint that stands counts against the account that delivered the release. An account that reaches the limit in its agreement is reviewed, and accounts that infringe repeatedly are suspended or closed. We may also refuse further releases from an account, or from a particular artist, while claims are open.

7. False or abusive notices

Sending a notice or a counter-notice that you know to be false can make you liable for damages, costs and legal fees (17 U.S.C. § 512(f) and equivalent laws). We keep a record of every notice and its outcome, and we may disregard notices from people who repeatedly send unfounded ones.

8. Other rights

Use the same form for trademarks, misuse of an artist's name or likeness, impersonation and artwork. We handle these in the same way.

9. Contact

Copyright agent, Stillmore Group: legal@stillmoregroup.com. This address is for notices about rights only; other messages there are not answered. For anything else, use Help in your workspace or the contact details on our website.