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Authorisation

Authorisation & representation

Who can instruct us, how an authorisation is evidenced, what scope it carries, when it applies — and what happens when it ends.

Who can initiate a notice

  • Case 1

    The rightsholder

    The person who created the work, or the company in which the rights originally vest.

  • Case 2

    Holder of an exclusive licence

    Whoever holds an exclusive licence for the field concerned can usually act directly. Scope and reach follow from the contract.

  • Case 3

    The rightsholder’s authorized representative

    Agencies, collecting bodies or appointed representatives acting in the rightsholder’s name — this is the role we work in.

No rights basis, no notice

If it emerges that the rights actually sit with a third party — a commissioning client, a production company, a licensor — we file nothing until the entitlement is settled.

The chain at a glance

  1. Position 1

    Copyright owner

    Holds the rights in the protected work. The rights stay there — entirely and at all times.

  2. Position 2

    Letter of Authorization

    A documented authorization stating scope, platforms and validity period. It exists before submission.

  3. Position 3

    DMCA Agency Deutschland

    Prepares, reviews and files — within the scope the authorization covers, and no further.

  4. Position 4

    Authorized Representative

    The role stated to the platform. Not "Copyright Owner" — that role stays with position 1.

An authorization transfers no rights. It permits acting in the rightsholder’s name, and nothing else.

The Letter of Authorization

A precondition, not a formality: before the first submission there must be a documented authorization we can point to when the platform asks.

Client identity
A company, or a person acting commercially, with contactable details.
Rights basis
Authorship, an exclusive licence, or a derived entitlement.
Scope
Which works, which platforms, which period, which actions.
Signing authority
Who on the client side may grant the authorization — with their full legal name.
Validity period
Start and end. An authorization without an end is not an authorization; it is an open account.
Authorization reference
Every authorization gets its own reference in the format DEA-AUTH-YYYY-NNNNNN, which verification enquiries can quote.

Fields of an authorization record

  • authorizationIdAuthorization reference
  • rightsholderRightsholder
  • authorizedSignatoryAuthorized signatory
  • agencyAuthorized agency
  • scopeScope
  • platformsCovered platforms
  • validFromValid from
  • validUntilValid until
  • revokedAtRevoked at
  • statusStatus

States of an authorization

An authorization only holds when it has been checked, falls inside its validity period, and has been neither revoked nor replaced. Only "Active" permits a submission.

  • Pending verificationPENDING_VERIFICATION

    The authorization has been received but not yet checked. Nothing is filed.

  • ActiveACTIVE

    Verified, inside its validity period and not revoked.

  • ExpiredEXPIRED

    The validity period has ended. New notices are not covered.

  • RevokedREVOKED

    The client ended the authorization. Nothing is filed from the moment it arrives.

  • SupersededSUPERSEDED

    A newer authorization from the same client replaced this one.

Scope and limits

An authorization is not a blank cheque. It is bounded along four dimensions, and those bounds decide what we may report in a given case:

  • By work

    Named works or a clearly delimited catalogue — not "anything of ours".

  • By platform

    Specific platforms out of the five supported, where the engagement provides for it.

  • Territorial

    Territorial limits, to the extent the grant of rights contains them.

  • In time

    Validity period, renewal, and the end of the engagement.

No transfer of rights

An authorization transfers no rights in the work. DMCA Agency Deutschland never becomes the owner of a client’s works and asserts no rights of its own in them. In a notice the agency appears as Authorized Representative, never as Copyright Owner.

Term and renewal

An authorization runs for a fixed period and does not renew silently.

Term
12 months from issue.
Reminder
We ask for confirmation 30 days before expiry.
Silent renewal
No. Once an authorization expires, no new notices are filed for that client — including where the service contract continues.
Contract and authority
Two different things. A service contract renewing is not evidence that the client still holds the rights in the works. Catalogues get sold, exclusive licences lapse — which is why the authority is re-attested annually.

What renewal confirms

  • The client still holds the rights in the listed works.
  • The catalogue scope is unchanged — or the change is stated.
  • The signing person is still authorised to give this authority.
  • Platforms and territory are unchanged.

Revocation

Revoking an authorization stops new submissions immediately — not at the end of the business day and not after a review window.

  1. 01

    Revocation received

    Receipt is recorded with a timestamp.

  2. 02

    Authority verified

    Does the revocation come from someone entitled to give it?

  3. 03

    Status set to revoked

    The authorization moves to REVOKED.

  4. 04

    New submissions blocked immediately

    With no waiting period. No review window, no grace period.

  5. 05

    Open matters reviewed individually

    Notices already filed are not withdrawn wholesale.

  6. 06

    Confirmation sent

    Target: one business day. The block is already in force.

Revocation, expiry and open cases

  1. Revocation

    An engagement can be revoked at any time. From the moment the revocation arrives we file no new notices for the works concerned; the record moves to REVOKED.

  2. Expiry

    When an agreed period ends, so does the entitlement to file new notices. The record moves to EXPIRED.

  3. Replacement

    If the same client grants a new authorization, the previous one is kept as SUPERSEDED — it does not disappear, so older notices stay attributable.

  4. Notices already filed

    Matters in flight are not undone retroactively. On request we inform the platform of the changed representation and record that in the case.

  5. Later verification requests

    If a platform asks about the authorization afterwards, we state the position as at the time of the notice — including a later revocation.

Settle the engagement

If you are unsure what information and evidence a reporting route requires, we settle that before any engagement.

Have your case assessedVerification