Copyright Infringement Policy

Policy

Noteflight respects the copyright law of the United States. Some uses of copyrighted materials on Noteflight are permitted under license by the copyright holder, while others are prohibited by law, so please read the following explanation carefully. Noteflight’s policy is to terminate the use of Noteflight’s products or services by subscribers and account holders who are repeat infringers.


When Can a Score be Shared?

Copyright is a complicated subject, but here are some simple examples of things that can be shared legally:

  • Original music that belongs to you: the musical composition, the lyrics and the arrangement were created entirely by you alone.
  • Music to which copyright never applied (e.g. a traditional song whose author is unknown).
  • Music whose copyright has expired. This is not always easy to determine, and expiration dates may differ in different countries.
  • Music which the copyright holder has given explicit permission to share (e.g. Creative Commons license).
  • Music that has been categorized as an arrangement of a copyrighted work and the original source has been properly identified. Printing and exporting are restricted for arrangements of copyrighted scores.

When Is It Illegal to Share a Score?

You cannot share any copyrighted work unless you have the songwriter, publisher or other copyright owner's explicit permission to share it. It does not matter if you transcribed the music by yourself, or if your arrangement is original and unique. If the musical work itself is copyrighted and you don't have permission, sharing it is illegal. Properly identifying an arrangement of a copyrighted work and sharing with printing and exporting restrictions is acceptable; however, rights holders may still request removal of any copyrighted work at any time.


For more information, please see The US Copyright Office website and Noteflight's Terms of Use, Section 9


Report a Violation

It is Noteflight's policy to respond promptly and decisively to any notice of alleged copyright infringement. Such notices must comply with the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as described below.


If you believe that your work has been used on Noteflight's website in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please promptly notify Noteflight's Copyright Agent by emailing copyright@noteflight.com all of the following information:

  • A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or if there are multiple works, a representative list of the works. Please note that you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a file infringes your copyrights.
  • A description of the material that you claim is infringing and information sufficient to establish where it is located on the website, which information should include the complete URL associated with each score. To delete scores from Noteflight's index, Noteflight requires an accurate means by which to identify potentially infringing scores. To accurately identify scores, you must reference the URL associated with that score, which can be found in the location or web address box in your browser.
  • Your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  • A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
  • Your physical or electronic signature.

Omitting any of the information above may render your request invalid.