For in-house legal teams
Know your company's music exposure before a label sends the list.
Labels now file complaints that read like content audits: account, date, song, views. We give legal teams the same inventory first, across brand accounts, creator posts and running ads, so you can fix what's live and size what's past.
✓ Independent and dated✓ Every flag confirmed by a person✓ Inventory in days, not weeks
The pattern in the complaints
Read a few of the recent brand complaints side by side and the pattern is hard to miss. Sony v. Marriott alleged 931 uses across hotel accounts and paid influencers. Sony v. Kroger alleged 392 uses across 19 banners and subsidiaries, including a creator's #ad video with a discount code, and noted that Kroger had signed at least 14 licenses with Sony before, which the complaint uses to argue Kroger knew licenses were needed. UMG and Concord's complaint against Quince cited a repost where the brand swapped in a hit song. Warner's complaints against Crumbl, PacSun and Luxottica each list hundreds of works.
Several share another feature: a demand letter or cease-and-desist months before the suit, followed by posts that stayed up or new posts that went up. In PacSun's case the complaint cites a letter from February 2024 and a suit filed in December 2025. Quince's counsel told the labels the issue had been addressed; the complaint alleges it hadn't. Willfulness arguments, and the $150,000-per-work ceiling that comes with them, tend to be built on exactly that gap.
Why marketing can't easily answer the question
When legal asks "are we using music we shouldn't be?", marketing usually can't say. Brand accounts are spread across regions, banners and franchisees. Creators post on their own accounts. The paid team boosts posts without knowing where the audio came from. Sound labels like "original sound" hide what's actually playing. Nobody has a single list.
That's what we produce: an inventory of every post and ad in scope, with the song identified from the audio itself, a note when that song has been named in earlier lawsuits, and a green, yellow or red rating with the reason. A trained reviewer confirms every flag. You get it as a dated report you can rely on and share.
What an exposure review covers
- Brand-owned accounts on TikTok and Instagram, including regional and banner accounts you name.
- Creator and influencer posts promoting your brands, including reposts and whitelisted content.
- Paid placements visible in public ad libraries, plus links you share.
- Creator usage rights against the terms you provide: expiry, channels, paid or organic.
- Catalog focus on request. If one label or publisher has written to you, we can prioritise their works.
A scenario
A consumer brand's associate general counsel reads about the Kroger complaint and asks marketing for a list of any posts using major-label songs. Three weeks later she has a spreadsheet of 60 posts from the main account, compiled by an intern listening to videos. It misses the regional accounts, the creator posts and everything tagged "original sound".
An exposure review covers all of it in a week: 418 posts and ads, 37 red, six of them still running as ads. Marketing pauses the ads that day and swaps or archives the rest within a fortnight. The legal team has a dated record of what was found and what was done, which is the record they'd want if a letter ever arrives.
If a letter has already arrived
Talk to outside counsel first, and think about preservation before anything is deleted. Then the immediate question is scope: which of our posts use this rights holder's works, and which are still live? We can turn that around quickly, so counsel isn't negotiating blind and marketing can stop boosting anything in scope. Our guide on what to do after a music copyright letter walks through the first steps.
What we are and aren't
We're an independent reviewer. We don't create, sell or license content, and we don't earn more by finding more issues. We don't give legal advice or opinions on infringement, fair use or damages; we identify the facts your lawyers need. Today we cover music and creator rights. Stock footage, images and AI likeness checks are coming soon.
Price. First check from $500 for up to 100 posts, and free if we find nothing that needs fixing. Larger reviews are quoted upfront.
Controls worth putting in place
Once the inventory is done, the question becomes how to keep it clean. The controls that matter most are simple, and most of them sit with marketing rather than legal:
- A written music policy covering brand accounts, regional accounts and creators, stating which audio sources are approved.
- A music warranty in creator and agency contracts, with an obligation to disclose the track used and to replace audio on request.
- A pre-boost check, so no organic post becomes a paid placement without someone confirming the audio.
- Usage-rights tracking, so creator content comes down or is renewed before the term ends.
- A periodic independent check, to catch drift as teams and creators change.
These controls also make your position easier to explain if a claim does arrive: a documented process, a dated review and a record of fixes are useful facts for counsel to have.
Request an exposure review
Common questions
Can the review be commissioned through counsel?
Yes. Many legal teams prefer to engage us through outside or in-house counsel. Tell us how you'd like it structured and we'll work to that.
How do you identify the songs?
From the audio itself, not just the platform's sound label, then a trained reviewer confirms every flag.
Do you need system access?
No. We review public posts and ad libraries, plus anything you choose to share.
Can you focus on one label's catalog?
Yes. If a specific label or publisher has written to you, we can prioritise their works in the inventory.
Do you give an opinion on liability or damages?
No. We provide the inventory and the facts. Your lawyers assess liability and strategy.
Related
General information, not legal advice. Platform rules and licenses change; check the current terms or ask your lawyer about your situation. Lawsuit figures are as reported and represent claims, not findings, unless noted.