INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (Copyrights)

Copyright is a legal right that seeks to protect original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Protected works may be visual (paintings, photographs, videos, movies), audio (songs, recordings) or written (books, plays, articles). Copyright protects words or images, not facts or ideas (although it may protect the original words or images used to describe an idea). Copyright doesn’t protect things like names, titles and slogans.

A trademark is a word, slogan, symbol or design (e.g., brand name, logo) that distinguishes the products or services offered by a person or company from another. Generally, trademark law seeks to prevent confusion among consumers about who provides or is affiliated with a product or service.

In the United States, not all unauthorized uses of copyrighted material are infringements. The “fair use” doctrine permits certain types of use—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—without the owner’s permission. Fair use determinations are made on a case-by-case basis, and there is no clear formula to determine whether a use may be found to be fair.

Additionally, using another’s trademark in a way that may mislead or confuse people about your affiliation may be a violation of this policy. However, referencing another’s trademark is not automatically a violation of trademark policy. Examples of non-violations include:

• using a trademark in a way that is outside the scope of the trademark registration, e.g., in a different territory, or a different class of goods or services than that identified in the registration; and
• using a trademark in a nominative or other fair use manner.

We will respond to reports of alleged copyright infringement, such as allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image as a profile photo or a copyrighted video or image uploaded on the Platform. We respond to copyright complaints submitted under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Section 512 of the DMCA outlines the requirements for reporting copyright infringement, as well as provides instructions on how an affected party can appeal a removal by submitting a counter-notice.

Before you submit a report of copyright infringement, please consider whether the content you want to report may be a permissible use of your copyright. If you’re not sure whether content infringes on your legal rights, because it may be a fair use or otherwise, you may want to seek legal guidance. We also encourage you to send a message to the person who posted the content. You may be able to resolve the issue without contacting us.

Remember, only the owner of a copyright (or their authorized representative) may file a report of infringement. If you believe something on the Press Play™ Platform infringes someone else’s copyright, you may want to let the rights owner know.

Please note that submitting a report of copyright infringement is a serious matter with potential legal consequences.

Intentionally submitting misleading or otherwise fraudulent reports of copyright infringement may lead to us taking action, including termination of your account. Submitting misleading or fraudulent reports may also lead to liability for damages under section 512(f) of the DMCA or similar laws in other countries.

If you are the holder of a copyright and believe in good faith that your work has been reproduced on our platform in a way that constitutes infringement, please notify our designated agent in writing to Song Mates, Inc. (Attn: DMCA Agent – Mrs. Landis), 301 W Jefferson Blvd. Suite 200 Fort Wayne, IN 46802

To allege a copyright infringement, please provide the following information to our DMCA Agent:

• Your complete contact information (full name, mailing address and phone number)
• A description of the content on our site that you claim infringes your copyright
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material on the Press Play app (such as the username of the account where the content appears)
• A declaration that you have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted content described above, in the manner you have complained of, is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; the information in your notice is accurate; and under penalty of perjury, you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive copyright that is allegedly infringed
• Your electronic signature or physical signature

The DMCA does not cover trademark infringement, and Song Mates, Inc has a different process when it comes to certain types of trademark-infringement claims.

If you are a trademark owner and you believe that your trademark is being infringed, please note that Song Mates, Inc is not in a position to mediate trademark disputes between users and trademark owners. As a result, please make every attempt to resolve the trademark dispute directly with the user who posted the material in question, or seek any resolution in court or by other judicial means.

If you are unable to reach a resolution with the user, you may report violations of only registered word, phrase, symbol, and/or design marks. For unregistered trademarks and all other types of trademarks, including trade dress and non­traditional marks, the process outlined below does not apply and we require a valid court order before we can take any action on those types of trademark-infringement claims.

For information on the process of registering a trademark, please consult with an attorney or refer to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

To allege a trademark infringement, please provide the following information to us at support@songmates.com. 

• Your complete contact information (full name, mailing address, and phone number)
• The trademarked word, phrase, symbol, and/or design;
• The trademark registration number
• The trademark registration office (e.g., USPTO)
• The category of goods and/or services for which you assert rights
• Information reasonably sufficient for us to locate the material on the Press Play™ app that you believe violates your trademark rights (such as the username of the account where the content appears)
• An explanation of how you believe this content infringes your trademark
• A declaration that you have a good faith belief that use of the trademark described above, in the manner you have complained of, is not authorized by the trademark owner, its agent, or the law; the information in your notice is accurate; and you declare, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a trademark that is allegedly infringed

*Please note that we may provide your name, contact information, and the contents of your report to the person who posted the content you are reporting. If you are an authorized representative submitting a report, we provide the name of the organization or client that owns the right in question. We may give notice of alleged trademark infringement to our users by a general notice on our Platform, by electronic mail to a user’s e-mail address contained in our records, or by written communication sent by first-class mail to a user’s physical address contained in our records.

Misrepresenting that material infringes on your trademark may subject you to liability for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees. And remember, only the trademark owner or their authorized representative may file a report for trademark infringement.

Once you submit a copyright or trademark report, we will review it and consider what actions (such as removal of the content or disabling of the account) are appropriate under the circumstances. Sometimes, we may contact you to ask you for more information so that we can continue our investigation.

When we remove content in response to a report of copyright or trademark infringement, we notify the person you reported to inform them the content was removed. We also provide them with your contact information, including your email address and the name of your organization or client, and/or the contents of your report.

If the person who posted the content believes that the content shouldn’t have been removed, they may reach out to you directly to try to resolve the issue. If the content was removed under the notice and counter-notice procedures of the DMCA or based on U.S. trademark rights, they may also be able to submit a counter-notification or an appeal.

We reserve the right to disable any account of, or take action as deemed appropriate in our discretion against, any user who has repeatedly infringed copyrights.

When we receive a report from a rights owner claiming content on Press Play infringes their intellectual property rights, we may need to promptly remove that content from Press Play without contacting you first.

If we remove content you posted because of an intellectual property report through our online form, you’ll receive a notification from us that includes the name and email address of the rights owner who made the report and/or the details of the report. If you believe the content shouldn’t have been removed, you can follow up with them directly to try to resolve the issue.

If you receive a notice of alleged copyright infringement from us, you may elect to provide counter notification in writing to our DMCA Agent. To be effective, your counter notification include the following information:

• Your physical or electronic signature
• Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled
• A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled
• Your name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court for the judicial district in which the address you provide is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which we may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the complaining party who provided us with a notice of infringement or an agent of such person.