Introduction

The Customer is responsible for obtaining and holding all license rights relevant to the material(s) provided to SilkenKitty (dba “SK | Music & Media, Inc.”).  By providing SK | Music & Media, Inc. materials for work or under contract, proposal, or Request for Quotation (“RFQ”), the Customer is assuring that they possess all legal rights to the works provided and thus does hereby indemnifies SK | Music & Media, Inc. in any legal proceeding.

Official Rights

Official Rights are those rights exclusive to the artist, production label, production studio, or otherwise similar entity.  The Customer may be an authorized agent thereof or possess official authorization from the rights holder(s) for presentation to SK | Music & Media, Inc. upon request and prior to any official work that may conflict with United States Copyright Act of 1976 (click here), Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (click here), International Copyright Act of 1891 (click here), and World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) (click here). 

Fair Use Rights

Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides the statutory framework for determining whether something is a fair use and identifies certain types of uses—such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research—as examples of activities that may qualify as fair use.  Section 107 calls for consideration of the following four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:

• Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes:  Courts look at how the party claiming fair use is using the copyrighted work, and are more likely to find that nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses are fair.  This does not mean, however, that all nonprofit education and noncommercial uses are fair and all commercial uses are not fair; instead, courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors below.  Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair.  Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work.
• Nature of the copyrighted work:  This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright’s purpose of encouraging creative expression. Thus, using a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a technical article or news item). In addition, use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair.
• Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole:  Under this factor, courts look at both the quantity and quality of the copyrighted material that was used. If the use includes a large portion of the copyrighted work, fair use is less likely to be found; if the use employs only a small amount of copyrighted material, fair use is more likely. That said, some courts have found use of an entire work to be fair under certain circumstances. And in other contexts, using even a small amount of a copyrighted work was determined not to be fair because the selection was an important part—or the “heart”—of the work.
• Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work:  Here, courts review whether, and to what extent, the unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work. In assessing this factor, courts consider whether the use is hurting the current market for the original work (for example, by displacing sales of the original) and/or whether the use could cause substantial harm if it were to become widespread.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which amended U.S. copyright law to address important parts of the relationship between copyright and the internet. The three main updates were: (1) establishing protections for online service providers in certain situations if their users engage in copyright infringement, including by creating the notice-and-takedown system, which allows copyright owners to inform online service providers about infringing material so it can be taken down; (2) encouraging copyright owners to give greater access to their works in digital formats by providing them with legal protections against unauthorized access to their works (for example, hacking passwords or circumventing encryption); and (3) making it unlawful to provide false copyright management information (for example, names of authors and copyright owners, titles of works) or to remove or alter that type of information in certain circumstances.  Click here for more detail.

Copyright, Fraud, and Infringement Notice

Any material furnished to SK | Music & Media, Inc. that has been provided for work, rework, or any such otherwise by Customer or potential Customer, that is not compliant or exempted to the letter of the law as stated above, or appears to have been stolen, pirated, or obtained without proper legal authorization will be confiscated along with all customer information and information collected from this site's Information Management Policy.  The information collected and materials confiscated will subsequently retained and turned over to appropriate and relevant law enforcement agency, authority, and the rightful owner (to the best of our ability to locate) for appropriate legal action(s)-may they be Civil or Criminal in nature. 

Violations of copyright law(s), royalty approvals, or end use resulting from the customer's knowingly or unknowingly disregard of the law, this terminology, terms, or deceptive/fraudulent acts in presentment of materials by the customer to SK | Music & Media, Inc. are demonstrative of "bad-faith" acts by the Customer, such conduct thus indemnifies SK | Music & Media, Inc. from any and all legal penalties associated-as Customer is the liable party.  In the event that legal action should arise out of the matters discussed herein, any and all penalties levied upon SK | Music & Media, Inc. as a result are the responsibility of the Customer, to include but not limited to: damages associated, Court imposed fines, restitution, emotional distress, pain and suffering, or loss royalty payments to the authorized and legal owner-or any representative empowered not mentioned herein.

It is the Customer's responsibility to ensure that all materials presented meet the aforementioned legal criteria.