Legal

Terms of Service

Effective date: 2026-04-27 · Last updated: 2026-04-27

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the DistroShield API and related services (collectively the "Service") operated by DistroShield ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account, accessing the Service, or using an API key, you agree to these Terms.

1. The Service

DistroShield is a B2B API for music distributors and labels that analyzes audio tracks for AI-generated content, duplicate detection across digital service providers, and metadata validation. The Service is provided "as a service" and may evolve in features, accuracy, and surface area.

2. Account & API key

• You are responsible for keeping your API key confidential and for all activity under it.
• You must provide accurate signup information (legal entity name, contact email).
• One account per organization. Sharing keys across unaffiliated parties violates these Terms.
• You may rotate your API key at any time from the customer portal.

3. Trial, plans, and billing

• Trial: a 7-day, 50-track free trial is offered to new accounts. After trial expiration the account is paused unless a paid plan is selected.
• Pay-as-you-go: $0.40 per analysis, billed monthly in arrears via metered usage.
• Starter: $249/month, includes 500 analyses; tracks past quota are billed at $0.40 each. At 750 analyses in a billing period the account is automatically upgraded to Pro.
• Pro: $1,099/month, includes 2,500 analyses; tracks past quota are billed at $0.40 each. At 3,750 analyses in a billing period the account requires an Enterprise contract to continue.
• Enterprise: custom contract, separately negotiated.
• Billing is processed by Stripe. By subscribing you authorize us to charge your payment method for recurring fees and overage as applicable.
• Prices may change with at least 30 days' notice; existing billing periods are honored at the prior rate.
• Failed payments may result in account suspension after Stripe's standard retry policy.

4. Acceptable use

Your use of the Service is governed by our Acceptable Use Policy, which is incorporated by reference. Material violations may result in suspension or termination.

5. Your content and data

• You retain all rights to audio files and metadata you submit ("Customer Content").
• You grant DistroShield a limited, non-exclusive license to access, process, and analyze Customer Content solely to provide the Service to you.
• We may use anonymized, aggregated signals derived from Customer Content to improve our models. We do not share Customer Content with third parties except as required to provide the Service (e.g., temporary fetching from your CDN URL) or as required by law.
• See our Privacy Policy for data handling specifics.

6. Intellectual property

The Service, including all software, models, and documentation, is the property of DistroShield. These Terms grant you a limited, revocable license to access and use the Service per these Terms. You may not reverse-engineer the Service, train competing models on its outputs, or scrape it.

7. Service availability

We aim for high availability but the Service is provided "AS IS" without an uptime SLA unless one is specified in an Enterprise contract. We may perform maintenance with reasonable notice when possible.

8. Accuracy disclaimer

DistroShield's analyses are probabilistic and intended as decision-support, not as a final judgment. AI scores, classifications, and other outputs may be incorrect. You are solely responsible for any business decision (distribution, takedown, royalty hold, etc.) made based on the Service. We recommend keeping a human-in-the-loop review process.

9. Warranties & liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT WILL DISTROSHIELD BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY UNDER THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID FOR THE SERVICE IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM.

10. Termination

You may cancel anytime via the customer portal; access continues through the end of the current billing period. We may suspend or terminate your account for material breach of these Terms or the AUP. On termination, your data is deleted within 90 days unless retention is required by law.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be notified by email at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in New York County, New York.

13. Contact

Questions: contact@distroshield.com