Reporting Stolen Music by a "creator" on spotify.

[animegeek24]

I found a artist that is possibly selling/sharing content from other creators. This creator is named Jimmy Castle on spotify and a few other platforms. The song Life is Good on their Broken Heart Album, is originally Timepieces from Nils Bergholz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmtAeA5ddDU). Here is the linked song https://open.spotify.com/track/2VUvwvTBUeJUO88L27saoN that is possibly stolen. The song Febuary (https://open.spotify.com/track/0ALMqhQTt07sz6Tw5MqUH3) is also possibly a stolen song but I am unable to find the artist. Just have seen it used in old youtube videos from 2013 and this user has it on their album for 2020. Here is the video that I have seen it in that was from 2013 (https://youtu.be/q7HIBP-0orU?t=37) This user has 2 songs they are making money off of that is not theirs by right to do so (I am pretty confident that the music mentioned is just reuploaded and the names changed for them).

[OneByBoo]

Hi there @animegeek24

thanks for posting your feedback !

In case you've witnessed anything out of the ordinary with the content presented, feel free following this official Spotify guide to send your feedback to the right factors.

Let me know if you need further help 🙂 

[STLBatman]

In order to confirm this legally (not speaking on behalf of Spotify just to be clear), you would have to find the distribution and shared content information as well as legal documentation expiration to prove it. 

    I've had friends in the industry get blamed for this all the time but they're protected by their label if it's music owned and produced under the same name. It all comes down to official documentation of the original songs vs the ones allegedly stolen. 

    Just do some digging on the artists involved, find their legal info on their websites if they have them. If not, it'll be a lot more difficult and you'll have to think outside of the ordinary channels to get your info. 

Best of luck! I'll do some digging on my end with my ole lawyer buddies from college and see what they know and/or point us in the right direction.

[STLBatman]

Did some digging and their website is in the description drop-down on YT. It would appear they make this music in slight alterations and iterations from classical composers. I did email the company based out of Germany. 

   Attached is a perfectly legal description of their licensing. They make these for purchase and they don't use a collecting company directly tied to the original license holders/estates. 

[animegeek24]

@STLBatman What I am saying is that Jimmy Castle is the person who is sharing others work. Not the youtube videos that I submitted as evidence. I doubt Jimmy Castle has Licensing for the music and doubt he made any alterations to the two tracks mentioned. All I believe Jimmy Castle did is rename the songs and reupload them. Jimmy Castle's Album with the possible stolen music was "released" earlier this year. While the original songs are 5+ years old. The timestamp and date on the youtube video is evidence of that compared to Jimmy Castle's album timestamp.

[STLBatman]

Now I am using my legal knowledge about licenses, royalty free music, rerelease music, etc. To the best of my legal knowledge, and from what I studied about the company that sells the tracks, the artist Jimmy Castle, how his record company obtained the music, and the sound differences in real time comparison, I would say this was a legal purchase.

  I have a ton of friends across the world that are in the music industry. Some of my friends do exactly what the track producers of these originals do. They create music either of their own through digital mixing and a 808 board, or, they'll purchase classically composed music royalty free and otherwise then mix it with their own sounds.

      I'm not certain of legality differences between where the original company exists in Germany and how that, if it even does, change things to the US. The website for the German company even states their specialty is taking original classical music and putting it into digital format with some alterations.

    In comparison of actions, essentially the chain of ownership legally would go from the estate of the classical composers to this German company to the purchasers to alter as they see fit. 

I'll be speaking with both parties this week and will provide an update once I receive one. Again, this is only to the best of my legal knowledge.

[animegeek24]

Give me the link to their website. Cause from what I have seen on Jimmy Castle's platforms is that they are from Texas, USA. Not Germany. And the original Nils Bergholz soundtrack may not be royalty free. Also don't forget about the other song that I linked as well. I couldn't find the original artist cause every time I try to reverse search it, it links to Jimmy Castle's song instead of the original in Shazam. This song is 7+ years old evidenced by the youtube video I linked. Sadly the video doesn't link or mention the source of the song but it doesn't deny that it is there.

[STLBatman]

The website for the Germany based company is in the details of the link you provided for YT. Castle is indeed in Texas but I haven't done a complete investigation yet. I'll be in contact. Happy holidays!

[animegeek24]

Happy Holidays to you too. Sorry if this seems to be a weird back and forth. I just hate it when people steal music then profit off of it. I edited my last post to mention the other song I linked as well.

[STLBatman]

     Making such accusations without proof is grounds for charges against you for libel so tread carefully in case someone from Castle's camp is reviewing these types of statements. 

     I used Google translate on the YT details and only got the website and other details in the screenshot.

     Again, I would consider doing your own digging since this is an important issue for you as a music fan. Stay tuned for updates!

[animegeek24]

I have attempted to contact Jimmy Castle through Twitter and their Merch store with no response. It has been near 2 months since I sent those messages. All I can do at this point is report it to Spotify and have them make their decision on this.