If SoundCloud receives a third-party report that one of your tracks contains infringing content, we’ll take down the reported track and contact you through an on-site notification and an email sent to the primary address listed on your account.

You are allowed to dispute a report and the instructions for doing so are here. You will be issued a strike if the claim is not successfully disputed within seven days of the report being made.

Strikes are used to help communicate the importance of copyright and to ensure rightful ownership and permissions of all content uploaded to the platform. Each successive strike penalizes you further, with the third strike resulting in termination of your account. Below are the actions we take based on the number of strikes.

1. The first strike does not affect the functionality of your account.
2. The second strike results in a suspension of the download functionality on your account.
3. In line with our Terms of Use, we have to permanently terminate accounts that have reached more than two active strikes.

Strikes will expire 12 months from the date issued. The reported track must remain blocked after a strike expires in compliance with copyright law, but any penalty will no longer be in effect. For example, if you have two strikes and one expires, the download functionality is restored.

You can find out if you have received a copyright strike in the last year by checking your email or in-product notifications. If you cannot access either, please contact copyrights@soundcloud.com for assistance.