Gaia and I released a cover of Runnin’ (Lose It All) in August. On the 3rd of October, it disappeared from all streaming services.
At this point the only thing we knew was that the release vanished from the account and from streaming services. To start investigating this, we first needed send some messages to the automated user support thing and convince it to send our request to a human. We included all the details, with some problems, like we couldn’t look up the UPC for the release, because that number is in the release entry in the distributor side, and that’s the very entry that vanished. In any case, we got a response:
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out.
One or more of your releases was removed in response to a claim from a rights owner that it is infringing that rights owners’ copyrighted sound recordings. This concerns the following release(s):
“Runnin’” (UPC 825373805058)
A copyright strike has been applied to your account as a result of this takedown.
We understand that receiving a message like this may be upsetting, but we take the protection of copyright seriously, and are continually investing in processes to protect artists and their music.
Best,
This looks like someone considered this an infrigement to a sound recording. This would be the derivative work case, rather than a missing mechanical license case.
The biggest issue was the copyright strike applied to the account. We had to fight this. So we sent a longer email detailing out why we think this is a misunderstanding. We included the number of the mechanical license, described how the recording was produced (all parts played or manually programmed by us, no samples used), and offering DAW screenshots and unmixed stems.
We also requested the name of the claimant, because their email didn’t even specify who that was. This seems asymmetrical to me. Our work has been taken down without a warning or even a notification, because of a claim from an unknown source.
Hello,
I am appealing the takedown of “Runnin’” (UPC 825373805058) and the copyright strike applied to my account, as described in your message of 6 October 2026. The claim is mistaken.
What the release is
“Runnin’ (Lose It All)" is my cover of the song written by Beyoncé, Arrow Benjamin and Naughty Boy. The recording is an original performance. No portion of the Beyonce’/Naughty Boy recording, or of any other commercially released recording, was used. Every part was performed or programmed from scratch by the three artists credited on the release: Maciej Blizinski, Riccardo Marenghi, and myself. The only material taken from the original is the composition, meaning the melody and lyrics.
I purchased a DistroKid cover license for this specific release on the 20th of April, license ID is 102354408. The release went live on 25 August 2026. DistroKid’s “Confirmation of License to Make and Distribute Digital Phonorecords” is attached as license_102354408.pdf. It lists:
- Title: Runnin'
- Authors: Beyoncé, Arrow Benjamin, Naughty Boy
- Release date: 25 August 2026
- Length: 3:19
- Configuration: digital phonorecord delivery
- Licensee: Gaia Marenghi
The license covers the musical composition. The claim concerns a sound recording. I did not use the original sound recording.
The release was live on DistroKid and on streaming services from 25 August 2026 without any issue. On the 3rd of October 2026 it was removed from DistroKid and from all stores, and the release entry vanished from my account. I received no notice from DistroKid. On the 4rd of October 2026 I received an email from Spotify’s monitoring service, which gave no reason. I am forwarding it with this message.
I can send dated DAW session screenshots, stems and multitracks, and the performer credits for all three artists.
I am asking for the following:
- The claimant’s name, the recording they say is infringed, how the match was made (automated fingerprint or manual report), and a copy of the claim.
- Rescission of the copyright strike and written confirmation of my account’s standing.
- Reinstatement of the release under the same UPC (825373805058) and ISRC, with redelivery to all stores.
- Restoration of the release record in my account, so I can see the release history.
Maciej Bliziński (cc) is authorized to correspond on my behalf about this request.
Regards, Gaia Marenghi
A few days later the response came:
Hi Gaia,
After a further review, “Runnin’” has been restored to the stores. There is nothing you need to change on your end.
It can take a few days for the stores to show the release again. If it is still missing after a week, reply here and we will check on it.
Best,
At the time of writing the release is not yet back online. Keeping fingers crossed, hopefully there really isn’t anything else to do for now. But the incident raises some questions:
Why did we never learn who was making the claim?
Why was our fully original audio recording mistaken for somebody else’s recording?
Why did we only learn about the copyright strike after filing a support request?
Can any of our original recordings be considered an infringement?
Our case was a mild one, but the incident shows worrying patterns. Release taken down with no notification or information on really what happened. If we wanted to submit a DMCA counterclaim, we wouldn’t know against whom to submit it.