Indiefy, an Indie Record Label & Distributor Platform, Supports Emerging Artists While Verifying Copyright Ownership
From its launch in 2016 in Guadalajara, Mexico as a music distribution service and label, Indiefy understood the importance of providing aspiring indie artists an excellent user experience while seamlessly uploading tracks free of copyright claims to digital service providers (DSPs). Striking the balance of servicing its subscribers and ensuring smooth operations, including copyright compliance, Indiefy not only built relationships with artists around the world but also maintained the platform’s status with DSPs.
Indiefy regards automatic content recognition technology as crucial to ensure the integrity of their supply chain and catalog, and to preserve their status as a trusted supplier to the leading music DSPs. Early on, Indiefy had chosen a vendor whose service was not as accurate as they needed and was forced to manually review any identified files from the vendor. They found the vendor’s service:
- Misidentified files as containing copyrighted music when they actually did not (aka false positives), falsely accusing an artist of misappropriation.
- Correctly identified files with copyrighted music but referencing the wrong metadata.
With a strong commitment to delivering reliable and affordable service, Indiefy wanted to avoid providing inaccurate data, falsely accusing an artist of copyright infringement and holding up his or her music from uploading to DSPs. The team knew the overhead of manually reviewing files could not be sustained and began looking for another automated content recognition solution (ACR).
RightsRx™– The Highest Accuracy for Any Budget
After reaching out to Audible Magic, the Indiefy team was pleasantly surprised at the various affordable service options for RightsRx, built using Audible Magic’s content identification technology – known for its accurate identification rates and virtually zero false positives. The development team also found it easy to install and use, speeding the time-to-market for deployment into production.
RightsRx compares tracks to music from more than 140,000 music labels from over 150 different territories in Audible Magic’s authoritative database and responds in seconds with a match or no match. If there is a match, it will display the conflicting rightsholder.
“The accuracy and the lack of human intervention not only builds our reputation for professionalism with indie artists, but also with DSPs that expect a clean catalog from Indiefy,” comments Gilberto Avalos, Founder and CEO at Indiefy. “The fire and forget aspect of RightsRx allows the team at Indiefy to focus on developing our platform and building artists’ careers.”
Challenge: Ensuring a clean supply chain of new artist tracks free of copyrighted content conflicts.
Solution: Scanning audio tracks before uploading to DSPs with RightsRx.
Key Requirements: Accuracy, scalability, and ease of use.
How Will Article 17 Impact Small Social Networks Outside the EU?
Article 17 also impacts small social networks outside the EU
Understanding your obligations
With the passing of Article 17 of the EU Copyright Directive in 2019, companies hosting copyrighted audio and video like social networks need to understand how this directive impacts their business. Although enacted in the EU, online content sharing service providers (OCSSPs) located outside of the EU will feel the effects of this legislation. Large and small companies need to understand the requirements. They differ slightly depending on your company. For example, the technical measures are not as demanding for smaller companies.
Are you considered an OCSSP?
OCSSPs are defined as follows by the directive:
“A provider of an information society service of which the main or one of the main purposes is to store and give the public access to a large amount of copyright-protected works or other protected subject-matter uploaded by its users, which it organizes and promotes for profit-making purposes.”
Platforms that are hosting content whether audio or video that includes copyrighted material need to comply.
Define small?
The directive defines small companies as:
- Service available in EU < 3 years, and
- Revenue < €10 million in the last calendar year, and
- <5 million unique monthly users on average over the last calendar year
Article 17’s international reach
Article 17 covers not only OCSSPs located in the EU, but any platforms that can be accessed by users in the EU. In this sense, Article 17 has a similar reach as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) recently implemented in Europe, prompting companies outside of Europe to comply.
The intentions of Article 17
Simply put, the legislation is designed to stimulate a fair and open marketplace for the protection and licensing of copyrighted material between OCSSPs and rightsholders.
The goals of the legislation included: “contribute to the functioning of the internal market, provide for a high level of protection for rightsholders, facilitate the clearance of rights, and create a framework in which the exploitation of works and other protected subject-matter can take place.”
Most platforms will need to put in place measures to prevent unauthorized uses, such as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) services to manage the compliance, licensing and monetization of user-uploaded audio and video.
All platforms are still required to meet existing law requirements, such as a Notice and Takedown system, along with policies to manage repeat copyright infringement required under US law.
So, what does this mean for small OCSSPs?
Small companies are given time to develop before they are expected to implement more advanced automation features such as ACR, but they will still need to comply with Takedown/Stay Down provisions. Once they grow past the definition of a small OCSSP, companies will need to use ACR services to meet the requirements of the directive.
Disclaimer: The information we provide should not be considered legal advice. While we work to be sure our information is accurate and useful; we recommend you consult an attorney.
Plan Now
It is important to start planning now on how to meet the requirements and understand the impact of the Directive on your business.
Below are some resources to help you understand the Directive and how it may impact your business.
- Take our A17 Assessment Survey for platforms to assess if the Directive affects your company and then assess your readiness to comply
- Learn more about the impact of the EU Copyright Directive on live streaming platforms
- Read the full text of the Directive
- And more is available on our Article 17 page as well as in our blog section
Audible Magic Rolls Out Beta Phase of New myRightsView™ Copyright Identification Service
LOS GATOS, California — October 19, 2009 —Copyright registration of music can now be easily verified using Audible Magic’s new myRightsView registration service (www.myrightsview.com). Featuring an easy-to-use interface, the new service is available to anyone who wants to ensure appropriate ownership for royalty, licensing, anti-piracy or use purposes.Read more
CopySense® Appliance Version 4.0 for Universities Released
Los Gatos, CA, September 4, 2008 CopySense Appliance version 4.0 for universities is now available from Audible Magic Corporation. The CopySense Appliance accurately and affordably identifies traffic of unauthorized copyrighted works without disrupting legitimate peer-to-peer (P2P) activities. Version 4.0 of the software offers three major upgrades for the academic marketplace: it uniquely protects against the downloading of electronic textbooks; it provides a university with automated graduated responses for network use violations; and it expands support of large university networks.Read more
Audible Magic Broadens Reach with Free Service for UGC Websites
CopySense® Basic Delivers High Quality Copyright Media Detection Service for Small-to-Medium UGC Websites
Los Gatos, CA, April 8, 2008 Audible Magic Corporation, a leading provider of content management services to the digital media and entertainment industries, today announced availability of a free version of it’s CopySense Content Identification Service called CopySense Basic, targeted at smaller websites.Read more
ZVUE Corporation Protects Copyrighted Material Across its Network of Entertainment Sites with Audible Magic
Los Gatos, CA, January 8, 2008 In a significant move to protect the rights of current and future content partners such as Sony/BMG and Showtime, ZVUE Corporation (NASDAQ: ZVUE) has entered into a strategic partnership with Audible Magic, the industry’s top provider of copyright-protection technology solutions. Under the agreement, Audible Magic will provide content recognition and management services to ZVUE Corporation and the ZVUE Network of 8 leading online entertainment properties, including eBaum’s World (http://www.ebaumsworld.com).Read more
HFA and Audible Magic Announce Strategic Collaboration to Facilitate Content Identification and Licensing
May 15, 2007 - The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), a leading U.S. music rights licensing organization, and Audible Magic (AM), a leading provider of electronic media identification and copyright tracking services, announced that they are collaborating to streamline the process of identifying the underlying musical compositions in user-supplied content. This innovative content recognition solution will facilitate licensing for all types of user-supplied content distributors, including peer-to-peer audio and other audio-visual content delivery networks.Read more
GoFish Partners with Audible Magic
GoFish To Utilize Audible Magic’s Content Management and Digital Filtering Technology
LOS GATOS, California - (March 7, 2007) — GoFish Corporation (OTCBB:GOFH), the leading publicly-traded made-for-Internet video company where millions of people come to watch, upload and share videos, today announced that Audible Magic, the industry leader in content rights management, will provide filtering and identification technology for its popular website.Read more
MySpace Implements Video Filtering System to Block Unauthorized Use of Copyrighted Content
Leading Lifestyle Portal Launches Pilot Program with Audible Magic, Becoming Largest Video Site to Offer Free Video Filtering to Copyright Holders
LOS ANGELES, California — February 12, 2007 — MySpace.com today announced it has implemented a pilot program to block videos containing unauthorized copyrighted content from being posted in its community. With the program’s launch, MySpace becomes the largest Internet video site to offer free video filtering to copyright holders.Read more
Audible Magic Corporation Acquires License for Motional Media ID™ (MMID)
MMID Provides Powerful Technology that can Identify Video Content in Seconds
LOS GATOS, California — November 28, 2006 — Audible Magic Corporation, a world leader in content management and anti-piracy services to the media and entertainment industries, has announced the addition of a new technology for its content recognition platform for video. The company has licensed an innovative patent-pending technology known as "Motional Media IDTM" (MMID) that can identify video content in seconds, and can provide video rights holders with control over unauthorized copying, as well as to enable new business models for revenue generation.Read more