Documenting Copyright Infringement

If you discover your work has been used without permission, your first instinct might be to contact a lawyer or file a complaint immediately. But before you do anything else, document everything. The quality of your documentation can make or break your case.

What to Save Immediately

• Original files with creation timestamps — WAV/MP3 files, Photoshop/Illustrator files, RAW photos, source code
• Copyright registration certificates (if registered)
• Publication records — Bandcamp pages, gallery listings, social media posts with timestamps
• Evidence of the infringement — screenshots, screen recordings, downloads of the infringing content
• URLs — the exact URLs where your work appears without permission
• Metadata — EXIF data for photos, ID3 tags for music, file properties

What to Document Over Time

• Dates of discovery — When did you first notice the infringement?
• Correspondence — Save every email, support ticket, and message exchange with platforms
• Platform responses — DMCA acknowledgment letters, counter-notices, any communications
• Continued infringement — If your work remains up after you've filed a takedown, document that too
• Harm evidence — Lost sales, decreased traffic, damage to your reputation or brand

Organizing Your Evidence

Create a folder structure like this:

case-evidence/
├── 01-original-work/
├── 02-infringing-use/
├── 03-correspondence/
├── 04-timestamps/
└── 05-notes/

What NOT to Do

• Don't modify original files after discovering the infringement
• Don't delete the infringing content yourself (it may need to be preserved as evidence)
• Don't confront the infringer directly — let the legal process handle it
• Don't post about the case publicly without consulting an attorney first

Audio Fingerprinting Tools

Audio fingerprinting generates a unique digital signature from a recording's acoustic characteristics. You can use these tools to scan platforms and datasets for matches to your work:

• Audible Magic — The industry standard. Used by UMG, Sony, and the major labels to identify infringing content on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms. In the UMG v. Suno litigation (D. Mass., 1:24-cv-11611), the labels used Audible Magic to confirm millions of infringing tracks in Suno's training data. Access requires a partnership or subscription. Status: Paid, enterprise.
• AcoustID — Open-source audio fingerprinting. Free to use. Generates a unique ID for any recording. Can be used with MusicBrainz to scan for matches. Limited scanning reach compared to Audible Magic but useful for documenting your own work. Status: Free, open-source.
• ShazamKit — Apple's audio recognition framework. Available to developers. Can match short audio segments against a reference database. Useful for verifying whether your specific recording appears in TikTok videos or Instagram Reels. Status: Free for developers, usage limits apply.
• YouTube Content ID — YouTube's automated fingerprinting system. Available to rights holders who meet YouTube's criteria (substantial exclusive content). If you qualify, Content ID automatically detects your music in any YouTube video and lets you monetize, block, or track it. 2.5 billion claims processed in 2025 alone. Status: Requires application and qualification.

Screenshot Preservation Checklist

Screenshots are evidence. Take them before you send a single takedown notice. Once you alert the fraudster, content can disappear in hours.

For every infringing track on every platform, capture:

• The track page showing the track title, artist name, and album art
• The artist profile page showing the full discography
• The album page showing all tracks
• The URL bar in every screenshot (or capture it separately)
• The date and time visible on your device (system clock in the screenshot is ideal)
• Play counts, release dates, and ISRC codes if visible

Preservation technique:

• Take screenshots on a device with automatic cloud backup (iCloud, Google Photos) so timestamps are independently recorded
• Save screenshots in a dedicated folder with the platform name and date in the filename: spotify_track_infringement_2026-06-19.png
• Print the screenshots to PDF — PDF metadata carries creation timestamps and PDFs are harder to challenge as altered than image files
• Email the screenshots to yourself immediately after taking them. Email headers carry independent server timestamps from a third party (your email provider)

Wayback Machine Archiving

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) is a free tool that captures and preserves web pages. It creates a timestamped, independently hosted record that neither you nor the fraudster can alter.

How to archive an infringing page:

1. Go to web.archive.org/save
2. Paste the URL of the infringing track or profile
3. Click "Save Page"
4. The Internet Archive captures the page and assigns it a permanent URL like web.archive.org/web/20260619120000/https://open.spotify.com/track/...
5. Save this archive URL. It is independently verifiable evidence with a timestamp from a neutral third party.

Archive every infringing URL before you send any takedown notice. Once the platform removes the content, the live URL may return a 404 and you lose the ability to capture it. The Wayback Machine URL is admissible evidence in federal court and cannot be altered by anyone, including you.

Exporting Platform Metadata as Evidence

Streaming platforms expose structured metadata that you can export and save as evidence. Here is how to extract it from the major platforms:

Spotify

• Web API: Spotify's public API returns JSON with track name, artist, album, ISRC, duration, popularity, and album art. Go to developer.spotify.com/console, paste the track ID (the string after /track/ in the URL), and click "Get Token" then "Try It." Save the JSON response.
• Web screenshot: On desktop, right-click the Spotify track page and select "Inspect" or "View Page Source." Search for isrc or "uri":"spotify:track: to find structured data embedded in the page.
• Third-party tools: Chosic, SpotOnTrack, and Songstats can export play count history and playlist placements. Free tiers exist for most.

Apple Music

• Apple Music API: Similar to Spotify, Apple's MusicKit JS API returns track metadata. Use the Apple Music API documentation to query by ISRC or track ID.
• iTunes Store lookup: The iTunes Search API (public, no key required) returns metadata for any track on Apple Music. URL format: itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=[TRACK_ID]. Save the JSON response.

YouTube

• YouTube Data API: Returns video metadata including title, description, publish date, channel, and view count. Requires a Google API key (free tier available). Query by video ID.
• yt-dlp: The command-line tool yt-dlp can extract all available metadata from a YouTube video and save it as JSON. Command: yt-dlp --dump-json [VIDEO_URL] > video_metadata.json. This is the same tool Suno admitted using to download audio from YouTube for training data, per their April 2026 answer in UMG v. Suno. Using it to document infringement is legitimate.

Last reviewed: June 2026. This checklist provides information about evidence preservation. It does not constitute legal advice. Beaumont & Sheridan is not a law firm.