A new blog post on SoundCloud’s site regarding copyright infringement rules seems to be sending mixed messages to users: Despite initial reports stating otherwise, SoundCloud still has the authority to pull DJ mixes containing copyrighted material.
SoundCloud founder Eric Wahlforss told Groove recently that the company had inked a deal with various licensing groups to keep DJ mixes on the site even if they contained copyrighted material. BBC originally reported that the licensing deal only applied to songs used in longer DJ mixes and not remixes of individual tracks. These longer mixes could only be posted previously if they had been granted rights of the material that had been incorporated into their mixes.
The report seemed to be the end-all solution to artists who had concerns of uploading material that would be pulled down and potentially lead to account termination. But after asking for comment, Pitchfork was recently redirected to a blog post from the site published Wednesday stating that while there are “far fewer takedowns of various forms of content,” the possibility of copyright infringement notices still looms.
“While the agreements we have in place across the industry have greatly lessened the likelihood of takedowns, as a creator driven platform, we respect all creators, and therefore we respect the rights of all creators who request to have their content removed,” SoundCloud said in the blog post.
SoundCloud users are typically allowed a number of strikes against their account before it is terminated and noted that as early as 2014, Universal Music Group was granted the ability to pull material directly without consulting SoundCloud.
Wahlforss had not stated whether users whose accounts had been previously terminated for copyright infringement would be restored.
This article was found on billboard.com