Rights on sounds
Version 2026-08-10.1 — this is the version you sign when you share a map.
About this English version
EarMotion is a service operated from France. These rules are written under French law and, where applicable, European Union law: copyright and neighbouring rights under the French Intellectual Property Code, personal data under the GDPR, hosting and content moderation under the Digital Services Act.
This English text is provided for information only. In case of any difference of meaning, the French version prevails — it alone is legally binding. The obligations described here are the same for everyone, wherever you are: what you publish from abroad is published from a French service.
A map is the responsibility of its author. EarMotion hosts maps; it does not check on your behalf where the sounds you place on them come from. Before sharing a map — by private link as much as publicly — you must hold the exploitation rights to every sound it contains.
The rules are the same in both cases. What differs is the checking: a public map is subject to a review by EarMotion, and may be withdrawn if the conditions do not allow distribution rights to be guaranteed.
1. Two layers of rights, not one
This is the costliest confusion, and it is easy to avoid. A published recording carries two distinct rights, held by different people:
- Copyright covers the work — the composition, the words. It belongs to the author and the composer, usually represented by a collecting society.
- Neighbouring rights cover the recording. They belong to the producer of the phonogram and to the performers, whose authorisation must be in writing.
Permission on one layer never covers the other. To use an extract from a commercial record you therefore need three agreements, not one: the producer, the performer, and the author.
The “just a few seconds” rule does not exist
No minimum duration makes an extract free to use. The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled on it: taking a sound sample even a very short one from a published recording is a reproduction requiring the producer’s authorisation. Only three narrow ways out: a sample made unrecognisable to the ear; quotation, which on the contrary requires the source to remain identifiable and you to engage with it; and pastiche, which requires a recognisable artistic dialogue and is not a catch-all covering any creative use.
2. The sounds you upload, status by status
| What it is | On a shared map? | What you must be able to prove |
|---|---|---|
| Your own recording a sound you captured yourself, with no music or speech of others |
Yes | The dated original file, and the written consent of anyone audible and identifiable. |
| Commercial sound library sold as “royalty-free”: you buy a licence to use, not the sound |
Conditionally | The invoice or contract, and the clause allowing online distribution. Careful: these licences generally forbid redistributing a sound in isolation as raw material — and a sound placed on its own on a map is an isolated file. Re-read your licence. |
| CC0 the author waived their rights |
Yes | The link to the sound’s page. CC0 covers neither voices nor the people recorded. |
| CC BY free, including commercially, with credit |
Yes | Title, author, link, licence — displayed with the map. |
| CC BY-SA like BY, but adaptations are shared alike |
Yes | The credit, and the same licence applied to your own publication if you loop, cut or transform the sound. |
| CC BY-NC commercial use excluded |
If the map is neither sold, sponsored nor promotional | The credit, and that access is free of charge. |
| CC BY-ND copying allowed, modification forbidden |
Best avoided here | That the file has not been altered. Looping and time-stretching are modifications. |
| Public domain the old work is no longer protected |
The work yes, the recording no | That the recording itself is free: you made it, or its licence says so. A recently recorded Bach remains protected by neighbouring rights. |
| Extract from a commercial record even two seconds, even transformed but recognisable |
No, unless authorised | Three authorisations: phonogram producer, performer (in writing), author-composer. |
| Sound provided by a third party commission, fieldwork, testimony |
With the written consent of the person recorded | A signed authorisation naming the uses: online distribution, public map, duration, territory, right of withdrawal. |
“Royalty-free” does not mean “free”. It is a commercial formula: you pay once and owe no further royalty. The sound remains the publisher’s property, the licence is personal and non-transferable. “Free” in the sense of open licences (CC0, CC BY) means the opposite: you may pass it on to others.
3. Voices and recorded people
An identifiable voice is not only a copyright question: it is also personal data and an attribute of private life. Anyone whose voice is recognisable must have given consent in writing and before publication, for the online distribution intended, and must have been informed of their right to request withdrawal. This applies particularly to collecting testimonies and to oral archives.
4. Private map, public map
The obligations above are identical in both cases: a private link is still distribution, and links travel. What differs is the checking done by EarMotion:
- Map shared by link or with collaborators: the sworn declaration is required. No prior review.
- Public map: the declaration is required together with your contact details, and publication is subject to an admissibility review. That review covers the completeness of your declaration and the declared origin of the sounds — it is neither a legal opinion, nor a warranty, nor a transfer of responsibility.
A public map may be withdrawn at any time if the conditions do not allow distribution rights to be guaranteed. Any withdrawal or refusal is notified to you with its reasons, and you may contest it.
5. The sworn declaration
This is the text you accept when sharing. It is kept with the date, your account and the exact version accepted.
- I declare that, for each sound uploaded, I hold the rights necessary for its reproduction and communication to the public on this platform, or that I benefit from a licence expressly permitting them.
- I declare that none of these sounds reuses, even briefly and even modified, a recognisable extract of a published recording without the authorisation of the producer, the performer and the author — knowing that no minimum duration removes the need for those authorisations.
- I declare that I comply with the conditions of every licence relied upon, in particular attribution and any prohibition on commercial use or modification, and that I have displayed the corresponding credits on the map.
- I declare that, where I use a public-domain work, the recording that renders it is itself free of neighbouring rights, or that I hold the authorisation for it.
- I declare that I obtained in writing, before publication, the consent of every person whose recorded voice is identifiable, for the online distribution intended, and informed them of their right to request its withdrawal.
- I declare that I can produce on first request the corresponding evidence — contracts, licences, invoices, signed authorisations — and keep it for as long as the map is published.
- I acknowledge that I am solely responsible for the sounds I publish, I indemnify EarMotion against any third-party claim based on them, and I accept that a reported map or sound may be withdrawn.
An inaccurate sworn declaration is not without consequence: article 441-7 of the French Criminal Code punishes by one year’s imprisonment and a €15,000 fine the drawing up or use of an attestation stating materially inaccurate facts, raised to three years and €45,000 where it causes harm to another’s property. Your civil liability also remains engaged under the general law.
6. What we keep, and why
When you sign, we record: the version of the text accepted, the date and time, your account identifier, the IP address used to sign and, for a public map, the contact details you provide.
This establishes who declared what and when, and allows us to answer a claim. It is never published nor passed to third parties, save at the request of a competent authority or upon a founded claim by a rights holder. It is kept while the map is published, then for five years. Professional contact details are only requested from those who have them. Your rights of access, rectification and erasure are exercised as set out in the privacy policy (French).
7. Reporting a map
Anyone, without needing an account, may report a map whose content appears unlawful. To be handled without delay, a report must include:
- a reasoned explanation of why the content is unlawful;
- the exact address of the map or page concerned;
- the name and email address of the person reporting;
- a statement confirming their good faith and the accuracy of the information provided.
We acknowledge receipt without delay, examine the report in a non-arbitrary manner, and notify our reasoned decision to both parties, with the means of redress. The reporting address is given in the legal notice (French).
An abusive report engages the responsibility of its author.
8. What EarMotion does not do
EarMotion acquires no licence from collecting societies on behalf of its users, and no subscription covers the copyright or neighbouring rights of the sounds you upload. A subscription gives access to features of the service; it is neither an authorisation, nor a warranty, nor a transfer of responsibility.