Heard Copyright and DMCA Policy

Document key: heard-copyright
Version: 1.0.0
Last updated: September 5, 2026
Effective date: September 5, 2026
Canonical URL: https://discoverheard.com/copyright

Heard respects intellectual-property rights and expects users to do the same. This policy explains how to report alleged copyright infringement and how a Heard creator can respond when material is removed because of a copyright notice.

This policy follows the notice-and-counter-notice framework in Section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act. It does not determine ownership, fair use, infringement, or whether Heard qualifies for a statutory limitation on liability. Those questions depend on the law and the facts of each matter.

Copyright notices, counter-notices, and retractions are accepted by email or mail through the designated agent below. Heard handles them manually while its in-product rights workflow remains disabled. Do not submit a copyright notice through a general in-app safety report.

1. Before submitting a notice

Only a copyright owner or a person authorized to act for the owner should submit a copyright notice. Consider whether the challenged use is licensed or authorized by law, including fair use, before sending a notice.

Knowingly materially misrepresenting that material is infringing, or that material was removed by mistake, may create liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). Do not misuse the copyright process to address trademark, privacy, impersonation, harassment, criticism, or another non-copyright dispute. Use Heard Support or the applicable reporting path for those concerns.

2. Heard's designated agent

The U.S. Copyright Office directory lists Heard's designation as active effective September 3, 2026 under registration DMCA-1079837. Heard reverified the active directory entry on September 5, 2026. The contact below matches the registration:

Designated agent: Copyright Manager
Agent organization: Heard
Service provider: Justin Lauinger
Alternate names: Heard; discoverheard.com; Heard: Listen and Discover
Mailing address: 4142 3 Lakes Dr, Long Grove, IL 60047
Telephone: 224-725-9324
Email: support@discoverheard.com

The owner authorized publishing this registered address and telephone number on Heard's Copyright page. Registration and publication do not by themselves establish eligibility for a safe harbor.

3. Copyright infringement notice

A written notice should include substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act for the owner.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed or, if one notice covers multiple works at one online site, a representative list.
3. Identification of the allegedly infringing material and information reasonably sufficient for Heard to locate it, such as the Heard content URL or identifier, creator handle, title, and relevant audio timestamp.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to contact the complaining party, such as a name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is the copyright owner or is authorized to act for the owner.

Do not attach unrelated personal information, credentials, or unlawful material. If a submission does not substantially include the required information, Heard may request the missing information. A substantially compliant notice will not be subjected to extra identity-document or ownership-evidence requirements as a condition of entering the statutory process.

Heard may separately request minimum-necessary verification when a material contradiction, targeting error, fraud indicator, or authority concern exists. That review must not be used to delay action that Section 512 requires on a substantially compliant notice. Verification evidence must remain restricted and follow the approved retention and deletion rules.

4. What Heard does after a notice

After receiving a substantially compliant notice through the designated agent, Heard will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the identified material when the statutory conditions are met. Heard will promptly notify the affected creator, provide the information and counter-notice instructions required by law, and record the action for rights-enforcement and repeat-infringer purposes.

Removal after a notice is not a final determination that infringement occurred. Heard may also keep material unavailable when it independently violates the Terms, Community Guidelines, another person's rights, a court order, or a safety requirement.

Heard's internal technical target is to remove an authorized takedown from current API, feed, profile, CDN, direct full and byte-range, and active playback eligibility within five minutes. This target does not guarantee removal of copies independently made by another person or service. The rights operation must not represent removal as complete until Heard verifies that its own public delivery denies the material.

5. Counter-notice

If your material was removed or disabled because of a copyright notice and you believe the removal resulted from mistake or misidentification, you may send a written counter-notice to the designated agent. It must include substantially the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material removed or disabled and the location where it appeared before removal or disabling.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed or disabled because of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your full name, address, and telephone number.
5. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district where your address is located—or, if your address is outside the United States, for a judicial district in which the service provider may be found—and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or that person's agent.

A counter-notice is a legal statement. Before submission, the creator must acknowledge that Heard will send the counter-notice and the legally required contact and statutory information to the original complaining party or its agent. Refusing required disclosure means Heard cannot process the submission as a Section 512 counter-notice. Consider obtaining legal advice before submitting one.

6. What Heard does after a counter-notice

After receiving a substantially compliant counter-notice, Heard will promptly send it to the original complaining party or its agent and explain that the material may be restored. Heard will not add account credentials, device data, private storage information, or unrelated profile information.

Subject to an independent policy, safety, rights, or legal reason to keep the material unavailable, Heard will replace the material or cease disabling access not fewer than 10 and not more than 14 business days after receiving the counter-notice, unless the designated agent first receives notice that the complaining party filed a court action seeking to restrain the creator from the allegedly infringing activity.

A credible threat, stalking, doxxing, or child-safety concern requires documented owner review before transmission or restoration. Heard will not silently alter a counter-notice and claim statutory compliance. If the required transmission cannot lawfully or safely occur, Heard will document the issue, keep the material unavailable, and seek matter-specific advice rather than make a false procedural representation.

An approved restoration returns material only to private processing and review. It does not revive a removed public URL or guarantee republication. Until the in-product rights workflow is active, the designated agent tracks transmission, deadlines, court-action notices, restoration decisions, and legal holds through the restricted manual process.

7. Repeat infringers

Heard has adopted and will reasonably implement a policy providing for termination in appropriate circumstances of creators or account holders who repeatedly infringe copyright.

Heard's approach considers substantially compliant notices, creator responses, retractions, counter-notices, court decisions, repeated reposting, evasion, and other reliable evidence. A raw allegation or incomplete claim is not automatically a final infringement finding. A retraction, successful counter-notice, or court reversal will be reflected in the record.

Ordinarily, one upheld matter produces a warning and rights education, two upheld matters within a rolling 12-month period suspend creator uploads pending owner review, and three upheld matters within that period result in termination of creator privileges and ordinarily the account. A court order, deliberate large-scale infringement, repeated evasion, or reposting of removed material may justify faster action after documented owner review.

Heard will accommodate and not interfere with qualifying standard technical measures as required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(i). The strike, reversal, suspension, termination, related-account, and audit controls must be operational before creator publication begins.

8. Retractions and other resolutions

A complaining party who wants to withdraw a notice should send a signed written retraction to the designated agent identifying the material and original notice. Heard may verify the retraction before acting.

The parties may resolve a dispute directly, but Heard is not required to mediate it. Notify the designated agent promptly if a court issues an order or the parties reach a resolution affecting access to the material.

9. Music and audio rights

A creator must have rights to every included sound recording, musical composition, performance, script, broadcast, clip, and other protected element. Buying a recording, subscribing to a streaming service, providing credit, or recording music playing in the background does not by itself authorize public streaming on Heard.

Because direct public audio is not geographically restricted, public-v1 creator content must have rights sufficient for worldwide hosting, streaming, and distribution. Material subject to narrower territorial rights remains private unless matching geographic controls are implemented and verified.

10. Privacy and retention

Copyright notices and counter-notices are shared with the affected party as part of the statutory process and may be disclosed as required by law. Do not submit information that is unnecessary for the claim. Heard handles these records under the Privacy Policy.

Heard limits access to rights records to the publisher and providers needed to operate the process. Subject to a valid legal hold or other legal requirement, Heard's retention targets are up to 90 days for incomplete or abandoned personal details; one year after closure for rejected, withdrawn, or clearly invalid claims; four years after closure for valid notices, counter-notices, removals, or restorations; and the account lifetime plus four years for confirmed repeat-infringer findings. A legal hold may require longer restricted retention and is reviewed periodically.

11. Agent registration maintenance

The service provider must keep its designation current and accurate and renew it before September 3, 2029, or sooner when an amendment is required. A change in the legal publisher, agent contact, alternate name, or other registered information requires prompt review and an appropriate filing. Heard must keep evidence of renewal ownership and reminders.

12. Contact

General support: support@discoverheard.com
Copyright agent: Copyright Manager, Heard — use the complete contact in Section 2

Use the complete designated-agent contact in Section 2 for copyright notices, counter-notices, and retractions. The email channel is not staffed 24 hours a day.