DMCA and Safe Harbor Policy

1. Purpose and Conditional Nature of Safe Harbor

SoundSlap permits broadcasters and authorized managers to upload or select audio, artwork, and related material at their direction. SoundSlap intends to seek, preserve, and rely upon all limitations on copyright liability, remedies, damages, costs, attorneys' fees, and injunctive relief that may be available to an eligible online service provider under 17 U.S.C. § 512 and other applicable law.

DMCA safe harbor is conditional, not automatic. This policy does not represent or guarantee that SoundSlap currently qualifies for any safe harbor. Eligibility depends on satisfying the statutory requirements, including registering and publicly identifying a designated agent, responding expeditiously to qualifying notices, reasonably implementing a repeat-infringer policy, accommodating standard technical measures, and meeting the requirements applicable to the particular service function.

2. Uploader Responsibility and Rights Certification

Broadcasters and their authorized managers, not SoundSlap, choose and direct the audio, artwork, names, and other material submitted to the Service. SoundSlap provides technical upload, storage, library, Extension, preview, transcoding, and overlay tools. SoundSlap does not request infringement, does not grant users rights in third-party material, and does not routinely pre-screen or independently clear every upload.

Before uploading, the uploader must review the material and certify that the uploader created it or owns, controls, or has obtained every license, permission, consent, and authorization necessary to upload, reproduce, transcode, store, distribute, monetize, broadcast, publicly perform, and publicly display it as configured through SoundSlap, Twitch, and OBS. This certification covers, as applicable, rights in sound recordings, musical compositions, audiovisual excerpts, artwork, trademarks, names, voices, likenesses, and performances. An uploader relying on fair use or another limitation or exception is responsible for having a good-faith legal basis before submitting the material.

As between the uploader and SoundSlap, the uploader is solely responsible for submitted material and for claims, royalties, license fees, reporting obligations, disputes, damages, and other consequences arising from it. The uploader agrees to the defense and indemnification obligations in the Terms of Service. Technical acceptance, processing, publication, moderation, or failure to identify an infringement is not ownership verification, legal clearance, endorsement, or authorization by SoundSlap.

These contractual responsibilities allocate risk between SoundSlap and the uploader; they do not prevent a third party from making a claim and do not create immunity by themselves. SoundSlap's protections depend on applicable law, including compliance with the conditions of 17 U.S.C. § 512 where invoked.

SoundSlap may reject, disable, remove, or restrict material at any time; preserve upload certifications and related records; notify affected parties; and disclose available uploader information when required by valid legal process or otherwise permitted by law and the Privacy Policy.

3. Safe Harbor Framework

Depending on the function involved, SoundSlap may seek the separate limitations on liability described in 17 U.S.C. § 512(a)-(d), including protections for transitory digital network communications, system caching, material stored at a user's direction, and information-location tools. Each statutory safe harbor has separate conditions, and eligibility for one does not determine eligibility for another.

User-uploaded sounds and artwork ordinarily reside on SoundSlap systems at the direction of a broadcaster or authorized manager. For such material, SoundSlap may seek the limitation on liability in 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), subject to all applicable conditions. SoundSlap does not authorize infringement merely by providing upload, storage, library, Extension, preview, or overlay functionality.

4. SoundSlap Safe Harbor Practices

To support eligibility and responsible copyright administration, SoundSlap's policy is to:

• act expeditiously to remove or disable access to material after obtaining actual knowledge of infringement or receiving an effective DMCA notice;
• avoid receiving a financial benefit directly attributable to infringing activity where SoundSlap has the right and ability to control that activity;
• maintain a publicly accessible copyright contact and, when completed, a current designated-agent registration with the U.S. Copyright Office;
• promptly notify the affected uploader or account holder when material is removed in response to a DMCA notice, where appropriate and legally permitted;
• process valid counter-notices under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g);
• adopt, inform users of, and reasonably implement a policy for terminating repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances under 17 U.S.C. § 512(i);
• accommodate and not interfere with qualifying standard technical measures as required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(i); and
• preserve records and cooperate with valid legal process where required by law.

5. Copyright Contact and Designated-Agent Status

Copyright notices may currently be sent by email with the subject "DMCA Notice" to soundslap.stream@gmail.com. This is SoundSlap's interim copyright contact.

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(2), eligibility for the storage-at-user-direction safe harbor requires the service provider to make its designated agent's name, address, telephone number, and email address publicly available and provide substantially the same information to the U.S. Copyright Office. Until SoundSlap's registration is completed and the registered-agent details are posted here, this contact must not be understood as a representation that a Copyright Office designation is active.

The official registration and directory are maintained by the U.S. Copyright Office. A registration must be kept accurate and renewed as required by Copyright Office rules.

6. Requirements for a Copyright Notice

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), a written notice of claimed infringement should include substantially all of 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 have been infringed or, for multiple works at one online location, a representative list.
3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, together with information reasonably sufficient for SoundSlap to locate it, such as the sound name, code, uploader, channel, and exact URL.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to contact the complaining party, including 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 notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act for the owner of the allegedly infringed exclusive right.

A notice that materially omits required information may not be effective. When a notice identifies the work, material, and contact information but is otherwise incomplete, SoundSlap may attempt to contact the sender or take other reasonable steps to obtain a compliant notice.

7. Takedown Procedure and Good-Faith Protection

After receiving an effective notice or otherwise learning of apparent infringement, SoundSlap may promptly remove or disable access to the identified material, suspend related alerts, preserve relevant records, notify the affected user, and take other reasonable action. SoundSlap may forward the notice, including the complainant's contact information, to the user who supplied the material or to relevant service providers.

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(1), a service provider may receive protection from claims based on a good-faith removal or disabling of material claimed to be infringing or apparently infringing, regardless of whether the material is ultimately determined to infringe, subject to the statutory counter-notice requirements for subscriber-directed material.

8. Counter-Notice Requirements

A user who believes material was removed or disabled because of mistake or misidentification may send a written counter-notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3). A counter-notice should include substantially all of the following:

1. The user's physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the removed or disabled material and the location where it appeared before removal or disabling.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the user has a good-faith belief the material was removed or disabled because of mistake or misidentification.
4. The user's name, address, and telephone number.
5. A statement consenting to the jurisdiction of the appropriate United States Federal District Court as specified by 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3)(D), and accepting service of process from the original complainant or the complainant's agent.

Send counter-notices with the subject "DMCA Counter-Notice" to soundslap.stream@gmail.com. SoundSlap may provide a copy to the original complaining party.

9. Restoration After a Counter-Notice

When SoundSlap receives an effective counter-notice, SoundSlap may inform the original complainant that the material will be restored or access reinstated. Consistent with 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(2), SoundSlap may restore the material not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days after receiving the counter-notice, unless the copyright contact first receives notice that the complainant filed an action seeking a court order restraining the user from the allegedly infringing activity.

Restoration is not guaranteed. SoundSlap may continue to restrict material that independently violates the Terms of Service, Twitch rules, another person's rights, safety requirements, or applicable law.

10. Repeat-Infringer Policy

SoundSlap has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, users and account holders who are repeat infringers. SoundSlap may consider the number, timing, severity, reliability, and disposition of infringement notices; counter-notices; court orders; admissions; repeat uploads; and other relevant facts.

Depending on the circumstances, SoundSlap may warn a user; remove or disable content; restrict public-library sharing, uploads, managers, Extension access, or overlay functionality; suspend an account or channel; or permanently terminate access. SoundSlap may act immediately in cases involving willful, repeated, or serious infringement and is not required to wait for a fixed number of notices when termination is appropriate.

11. Standard Technical Measures

SoundSlap will accommodate and will not interfere with "standard technical measures" that satisfy 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(2), meaning qualifying measures used by copyright owners to identify or protect works, developed through a broad multi-industry consensus, available on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, and not imposing substantial costs or burdens on service providers.

12. Misrepresentations

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), a person who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing, or that material was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be liable for damages, costs, and attorneys' fees incurred by an injured alleged infringer, copyright owner, authorized licensee, or service provider. Submit notices and counter-notices only after a good-faith review of the facts, ownership, authorization, and potentially applicable legal exceptions.

13. Legal Process and Identifying Information

SoundSlap may preserve records and disclose available identifying information when required by a valid subpoena, court order, or other lawful process. Section 512(h) provides a process through which a qualifying copyright owner or authorized agent may request a federal-court subpoena seeking information sufficient to identify an alleged infringer. Any disclosure remains subject to applicable law and the SoundSlap Privacy Policy.

14. No General Monitoring Obligation

Nothing in this policy creates a duty to proactively monitor all user activity or affirmatively seek facts indicating infringement. Section 512(m) generally provides that safe-harbor eligibility is not conditioned on monitoring, except as consistent with qualifying standard technical measures. SoundSlap may nevertheless review, moderate, filter, or investigate content at its discretion and as permitted by law.

15. Other Rights and Defenses

Failure to qualify for a particular safe harbor does not establish copyright liability and does not waive any defense, immunity, limitation, license, authorization, fair-use argument, or other protection available to SoundSlap, the Operator, users, or service providers. Section 512(l) expressly preserves other defenses. SoundSlap reserves all rights and remedies under the Copyright Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230 where applicable, contract, and other law.

16. Policy Changes and Contact

SoundSlap may update this policy to reflect registration, legal, operational, or service changes. Material updates will be posted with a revised effective date. Copyright questions, notices, and counter-notices may be sent to soundslap.stream@gmail.com using the appropriate subject line described above.