About Us

PayArtists provides a way for known copyright infringers to settle with owners of copyrights and avoid litigation and substantial civil liability by settling with the owners of copyrights of infringed songs.  Copyright owners use PayArtists to recover some of the losses they suffer from computer users who download their art for free. PayArtists provides a way for infringers to settle and for Artists to be compensated for their art and music.

The Copyright Act of 1976 and its subsequent amendments make it illegal to copy and or distribute copyrighted material without the express consent of the copyright owner.  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act  states that damages of up to $150,000 per infringement are liable, however, copyright owners who use PayArtists have chosen a different approach.  Our goal is to bring artists and fans together in a way that benefits both.

Did you receive a copyright violation notice from PayArtists?

If you receive a copyright violation notice from PayArtists, this means we have evidence that you have infringed upon a copyright holder’s rights by using one of the multitude of bit torrent Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs available for sharing and downloading content among computers connected to the internet. By accepting this settlement offer and by paying the specified nominal amount, typically $10.00 USD, you prevent any further legal or enforcement actions by the owner of the copyright in the music or composition listed in the infringement notice you received.

Acceptance of this offer also requires that you agree not to download further music or content belonging to the artist and stop all infringing activities in the future regarding the compositions listed in the copyright violation notice.

How it works:

PayArtists represent musicians through agency agreements and have created powerful software which monitors global Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing networks to identify unauthorized downloading of digital media on behalf  of copyright owners, the musicians we represent. Once a copyright infringement is verified, PayArtists system then automatically emails a legal notice to the infringer, informing them that while the download was unauthorized, the owner of the copyrighted work chooses to settle the copyright infringement for a minimal monetary value, thus preventing what could amount to not only costly, but time consuming litigation.  This benefits both the artist AND the party who has broken the law.  Once an infringer receives the notification from the owner of the copyright in the composition(s) listed, the infringing user is provided an option to visit the PayArtists Website and settle.

Settling the copyright infringement is very easy, simply click the link in your e-mail notice or sign in to the payment shopping cart on our site (we use Google Checkout) and use the code provided in the infringement notice to settle by paying our nominal fee.

When an infringer settles with the copyright owner, PayArtists automatically sends a legal release to the infringer and the matter is closed.