You insure the business.
We hear the risk.
Silent Coverage audits your insureds' social media for unlicensed music and prices the copyright risk before rightsholders do.
Talk to our teamMillions In Losses.
None Of It Measured.
Music copyright exposure never shows up on an application, a loss run or a risk model. It sits in your insureds' social feeds, unpriced, until a rightsholder's demand letter lands. New claims arrive every week, most settle privately, and the loss only becomes visible once it has been paid.
Not on the application
No proposal form asks which songs an insured posts. Policies are bound without anyone seeing the exposure.
Not in the loss data
Most claims settle quietly, so they never reach the loss history you price from. The risk looks smaller than it is.
Not in anyone's control
Insureds, franchisees and influencers keep posting after you bind. The exposure grows every day the policy is in force.
Average exposure: Copyright Check AI audit data, Sep 2026. Claim figures from public court filings; statutory maximums, not settlements.
Silent Coverage makes it visible. Every insured scanned, scored and priced, so you can quote, exclude or remediate before it becomes a loss.
The Lawsuits Are Public.
The Insurers Are Paying.
Marriott
Sony Music · 2025Sony's claim over recordings in hotel and franchisee social posts — infringement it called “rampant.” Settled.
Netinfluencer · MBWCrumbl
Warner Music · 2025159 songs allegedly baked into the cookie chain's social posts. Settled in 2026.
Billboard · DMNNBA Teams
Publishers · 2024Kobalt and other publishers sued teams including the Knicks and Cavaliers over music in TikTok and Instagram videos.
BillboardQuince
UMG & Concord · 2026The $10B-valued fashion brand sued over “brazen” music use in TikTok and Instagram posts.
Music Business WorldwideDSW
Sony Music · 2025The shoe retailer took Sony to court first, lost that fight — then settled in 2026.
Bloomberg LawGymshark
Sony Music · 2021297 recordings allegedly used in TikTok and Instagram ads — statutory exposure of up to ~$44M. Settled in 2022.
Bloomberg LawChili's
UMG v. Brinker · 2024Universal's claim over unlicensed songs in 62 Chili's social videos. Settled.
Netinfluencer · Bloomberg LawBang Energy
UMG · 2022Found liable on summary judgment for music in its TikToks — including influencer posts made on its behalf.
Digital Music NewsPeloton
Publishers · 2019NMPA members' claim over unlicensed songs in workout content. Settled in 2020.
BillboardUSC
Sony Music · 2025Even universities: Sony's claim over music in athletics social posts. Settled in 2026.
Daily Trojan · MBWMaximum US statutory damages per work — and when the demand letter lands, defence costs and settlements flow to the policies you wrote: general liability, media liability, E&O. Unpriced and unmodelled, this is silent exposure. Either you price it, or you pay it.
Publication names shown for attribution of their reporting; each case links to the coverage.
Replace Unpriced Copyright Exposure
With Music Risk Intelligence
Learn more
AI Detects
Our AI scans an insured's public social channels — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube — and identifies every commercial track used without a licence.
✓ Channel scan
3 CHANNELS · 1,214 POSTS- Scanning video & audio
- Matching against 160M+ tracks
- Checking licence records
- Flagging unlicensed use
Experts Assess
Our analysts verify every match, weigh statutory damages exposure, and deliver a defensible risk score your underwriters can price against.
$750 → $150,000 statutory max
One Engine, Three Stages
Across The Policy Lifecycle
Quote Check
A fast read on an applicant before you quote. We scan their main social accounts and return a music risk rating for the submission file.
Full Audit
The complete picture on an insured, run across your in force book and on every new bind. Every post checked, every flag evidenced, and a remediation list the insured can act on.
Renewal Audit
A focused refresh on the accounts already audited, checking everything posted since. Renewal terms rest on current evidence, not last year's.
One Risk Report
To Underwrite With Confidence
Learn more
Risk Reports
Ember & Oak Hospitality
Restaurant group · 14 locations · TikTok, Instagram & YouTube
| Account | Posts | Flags | Rate | Big 3 exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TT@emberandoak | 1,284 | 212 | 16.5% | $7.95M |
| IG@emberandoak | 1,902 | 187 | 9.8% | $6.15M |
| TT@emberandoak.soho | 346 | 71 | 20.5% | $3.3M |
| YTEmber & Oak | 88 | 4 | 4.5% | $300K |
- Soundtracks separated from background audio
- Sped-up, pitch-shifted and remixed audio matched
- Every flag reviewed by an analyst before delivery
| Track | Rights holder | Uses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| EspressoSabrina Carpenter | Universal Music Group | 9 | Big 3 |
| APT.ROSÉ & Bruno Mars | Warner Music Group | 7 | Big 3 |
| Too SweetHozier | Sony Music Entertainment | 6 | Big 3 |
| Birds of a FeatherBillie Eilish | Universal Music Group | 5 | Big 3 |
| ConfidenceOcean Alley | Independent | 4 | Independent |
| Commercial Music Library trackTikTok CML | Pre-cleared | 12 | Licensed · excluded |
| Business | Posts | Big 3 exposure | Total exposure | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NNova Events Co.Event production | 1,380 | $21.9M | $96.3M | Severe |
| EEmber & Oak HospitalityRestaurant group · 14 locations | 3,620 | $17.7M | $71.1M | High |
| PPulse Fitness StudiosBoutique gym chain | 2,140 | $12.6M | $58.2M | High |
| SStudio Verve Agency22 client accounts | 5,410 | $6.9M | $33.0M | Medium |
| HHarbor Lane RetailApparel · DTC | 960 | $4.2M | $19.5M | Medium |
| MMaple & Co. BakeryFood & beverage | 214 | $450K | $1.2M | Low |
| Post | Track | Rights holder | Posted | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TT@emberandoak | Espresso | Universal | 14 Mar 2025 | Remove or licence |
| IG@emberandoak | APT. | Warner | 2 Aug 2024 | Remove or licence |
| TT@emberandoak.soho | Too Sweet | Sony | 19 Jan 2026 | Remove or licence |
| TT@emberandoak | Confidence | Independent | 30 Jun 2025 | Review |
| IG@emberandoak | CML track | Pre-cleared | 7 Nov 2023 | No action |
Posts are flagged as potentially unlicensed, never asserted as infringement. Findings go only to the contacts you nominate.
Illustrative sample. Businesses and figures shown are fictional. Big 3 = the three major music companies: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
Built By A Brand That Needed It.
Five Years In Music Copyright.
Silent Coverage is built by Copyright Check AI, the music copyright audit service used by global and publicly listed brands across the US, UK, Australia, MENA and Asia.
It started inside our own brand. Our social feed ran on trending music, and nothing existed to tell us which posts carried copyright exposure. So we built it. Five years on, music copyright on social media is still the only thing we do, with analysts, engineers and copyright specialists in London and Atlanta.
Silent Coverage brings that same engine and expertise to underwriting: the audits brands already rely on, delivered as a risk report built for carriers, MGAs and brokers.
Figures: Copyright Check AI internal data, Sep 2026. Accuracy from independent testing by a leading music sync company.
Liam Doolan
Founder & Director · Atlanta, USA
Liam spent ten years scaling tech startups in London and five years in direct-to-consumer, including building and exiting his own DTC brand. He has also appeared on Dragons' Den.
Copyright Check AI began with that brand. Its social feed ran on trending music and there was no way to know which posts carried copyright exposure, so he built the tool to answer the question. It became the audit service global brands now rely on, and he leads it from Atlanta.
London · Atlanta
UK and US teams covering both time zones, serving clients across the US, UK, Australia, MENA and Asia.
AtlantaUSA
LondonUK
One side of the table
We never work for music rights holders, and no finding is ever shared with a label.
Built for social, checked by people
Proprietary fingerprinting on the raw audio, not platform tags. Every report is reviewed by an analyst before delivery.
Licensed music excluded
Cross-checked against TikTok's Commercial Music Library and Meta's Sound Collection. Posts are flagged as potentially unlicensed, never asserted as infringement.
Public data only
A website, company name or social handle is all we need, with no access to the insured's accounts. Findings go only to the contacts you nominate.
Music Copyright Risk,
Answered
What is silent music copyright risk?
It is copyright exposure created when businesses use commercial music in their social media without a licence. It does not appear on applications, loss runs or risk models, so it sits unpriced inside insurance policies until a rightsholder makes a claim. Silent Coverage measures it before that happens.
Does TikTok or Instagram's music library cover brand content?
Generally not. The main music libraries on TikTok and Instagram are licensed for personal, non-commercial use. Business content is limited to commercially cleared libraries such as TikTok's Commercial Music Library and Meta's Sound Collection. Using popular tracks in brand posts, ads or influencer content usually needs a separate licence, and in 2022 a US court found Bang Energy liable for music in its own TikTok videos.
How much can a music copyright claim cost a business?
Under US law, statutory damages run from $750 to $30,000 per work, and up to $150,000 per work where infringement is found to be wilful, before legal costs. The rightsholder does not need to prove actual loss. A brand that has used hundreds of tracks can face claims in the tens of millions: Sony's claim against Marriott was reported at around $140M.
Which insurance policies can a music copyright claim fall on?
Depending on policy wording, defence costs and settlements can fall on general liability (personal and advertising injury), media liability and errors and omissions cover. Most of these policies were never priced for music use on social media, which is why the exposure is described as silent.
How does Silent Coverage assess an insured?
You share the insured's website, company name or social handles. Our AI fingerprints the audio in their public posts against a catalogue of more than 160 million tracks, excludes licensed library music, and our analysts verify every flag. You receive a risk report with a risk rating, total statutory exposure, exposure to the Big 3 music companies (Universal, Sony and Warner), and every flagged post with the track, artist and rights holder behind it.
How quickly are reports delivered?
Reports are returned within 24 hours of submission, and often within a few hours. If you need a faster turnaround for initial pricing, we can arrange it. The same applies to a Quote Check before binding, a Full Audit on bound and in-force insureds, and a Renewal Audit each year.
Which social platforms do you scan?
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Pinterest, including regional, franchise and influencer accounts posting on a brand's behalf.
Do you work with music labels or rightsholders?
No. We sit on one side of the table only: we never work for music rights holders, and no finding is ever shared with a label. Findings go only to the contacts you nominate.
Who is Silent Coverage for?
Carriers, MGAs, brokers and capacity providers. We audit businesses in every industry and have found liability even in niche sectors, from sports, fashion, beauty and retail to hospitality, fitness, events and marketing agencies. Any company with a social media presence is at risk, including small businesses. Silent Coverage is part of the Copyright Check AI Group, which has audited more than 50 million social posts for global brands over five years.
Focus On Underwriting,
We'll Handle The Music.
The losses are already in your book. Find them before they become claims.
Talk to our team