I am a musician and discovered some of my music distributed over the internet with my authorization. Can I take legal action?

Copyright is the exclusive right of the author of a literary or artistic property (such as a book, movie or musical composition) to print, copy, sell, license, distribute, transform to another medium, translate, record or perform or otherwise use (or not use) and to give it to another by will for a set period of time.

Since music is considered intellectual property, the question to ask is if you filed a copyright for your work. You may learn on how to file a copyright through the U.S. Copyright Office. If you have already obtained an intellectual property copyright for your work, then there may be an issue of copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement is defined as the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work.

Moving forward, please consult with a Technology Law Lawyer to determine the proper actions to take in your case