How to File a DMCA Takedown on Spotify
Finding your music, podcast episodes, or audiobook on Spotify under someone else's name is a special kind of gut punch, someone is collecting royalties on work you made. Spotify accepts copyright infringement claims through an official web form, with an email route to its copyright agent as a backup. This guide walks through filing as the rights holder.
Before you start
- Proof of ownership, links to your official release, distributor dashboard, or original masters, plus registration details if you have them.
- The Spotify link for every infringing item. Click the three dots on the track, episode, or audiobook, then Share → Copy link.
- Your contact details, complete name, address, telephone number, and email; Spotify's policy asks for all of them.
- Know that Spotify may share your name and email with the party you're reporting.
Step 1: Open Spotify's report form
Go to https://support.spotify.com/us/report-content/. This is Spotify's official page for reporting illegal content and intellectual property violations. Choose the form for content that "might violate your intellectual property rights or be illegal", the separate platform-rules form is for harassment and similar issues, not copyright.
Step 2: Fill out one form per content category
Spotify asks for a separate form for each category, music, podcasts, audiobooks, but you can report multiple items of the same category together. Incomplete reports slow everything down, so Spotify's own instruction applies: complete the form in its entirety and include specific supporting evidence.
Step 3: Identify your work and your ownership
Identify each copyrighted work claimed to be infringed and where your original lives, your artist page, official release, or publisher listing. If an impostor distributed your song under a different title or artist name, spell out the mapping: "the track [X] by [uploader] is my recording [Y], released [date]".
Step 4: Pinpoint the infringing content
Paste the Spotify link for every infringing track, episode, or audiobook. Describe where it sits on the service so reviewers can locate it exactly, Spotify acts on what you identify, not on a general complaint about an artist profile.
Step 5: Add the statements and submit
Include the standard declarations: a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and that the information is accurate and you're the owner or the owner's agent. Sign with your full name and submit. If you can't use the form, Spotify's Intellectual Property Policy lists its copyright agent at [email protected] and a mailing address at Spotify USA Inc. in New York.
Step 6: Notify the distributor too (music)
Infringing music reaches Spotify through a distributor. A DMCA claim removes it from Spotify, but reporting it to the distributor that delivered it can wipe the release from every streaming store at once, worth the extra email.
What happens after you file
Spotify evaluates the claim and, where justified, removes the content or disables access in specific countries; your name and email may be passed to the other party, and they may respond. Persistent impostors often re-release under new names, so keep an eye on searches for your titles. If you'd rather have professionals monitor and file for you across Spotify and everywhere else your work leaks, Rulta is a done-for-you DMCA takedown service built for creators.
This guide is educational information, not legal advice.
Need the notice text?Generate a complete DMCA notice for Spotify — free, one minute
Exhibit A — official takedown formhttps://support.spotify.com/us/report-content/
Frequently asked questions
Where do I report copyright infringement on Spotify?
Use Spotify's report form at support.spotify.com/us/report-content/ and choose the illegal content option covering intellectual property. Spotify's Intellectual Property Policy also lists an email route, [email protected].
Someone released my song on Spotify through a distributor, can a takedown fix that?
Yes, a valid infringement claim can get the track removed from Spotify. It's also worth reporting the release to the distributor that delivered it, since they can pull it from every store at once.
Can I report multiple tracks in one report?
Yes, you can include multiple items of the same category (for example several music tracks) in one form, but Spotify asks you to submit a separate form for each content category, music, podcasts, and audiobooks.
Will the uploader see my information?
Possibly. Spotify says it may pass your name and email address to the party responsible for the allegedly infringing content, and it retains report information as long as legally required.
Does Spotify always remove reported content worldwide?
Not necessarily. Spotify evaluates each claim and may remove the content entirely or disable access in specific countries, depending on the nature of the claim.