NO

As of 13 August 2026, AI cannot check whether music is copyrighted.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

n/ait cannot be self-verified.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ita professional

What the alternative costsMubert provides AI-generated music to length, mood and use, but it is not a legal clearance service.

If this goes wrong, you use music without the required permission and face a takedown, licensing demand or copyright dispute.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface gets you a draft, but you cannot verify it yourself. That is the catch.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open the source where you found the music and record the title, artist, composer, performer, label, release date, URL and stated licence terms.
    2. Save the audio file or link and gather any receipt, licence, permission email, contract or attribution requirement connected with it.
    3. Write down exactly how you want to use the music in the UK, including the platform, audience, duration, edits, public performance and whether money or promotion is involved.
    4. Paste the prompt and your recorded details, evidence and proposed use into a chatbot, then ask it to separate the composition rights from the sound-recording rights.
    5. Compare every licence claim in the answer with the original source terms and check the named rights organisations or rights holder directly rather than relying on the model's summary.
    6. Do not publish or perform the music if permission remains unclear; contact the rights holder or a music-licensing solicitor for a serious or commercial use.

    Prompt

    Assess the copyright risk of this music for use in the UK. Do not give a definitive legal conclusion and do not assume that a song is copyright-free because it is old, online, labelled royalty-free or available to download. Separate the musical composition from the sound recording, list the facts that are known and unknown, explain what evidence would be needed, identify any licence restrictions in the material I provide, and state what a rights holder or music-licensing solicitor would need to confirm. Consider this proposed use: [describe the video, podcast, performance or other use]. Track details: [title, artist, composer, performer, label, release date and source]. Evidence of permission or licensing: [paste the licence, receipt, contract or source terms]. If the evidence is insufficient, say that it is insufficient. Do not invent rights holders, licences, dates or legal exceptions.

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

What makes this a NO: legal accountability, verification cost and context depth.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification0
Liability0
Effort delta1
Total4 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI tell me if a song is copyrighted?
No. AI can flag likely copyright protection and organise the evidence, but it cannot confirm ownership, permissions or the rights needed for your particular use.
How do I check copyright on a song in the UK?
Gather the track's source, metadata, licence terms and proof of permission, then check the rights holder or relevant licensing organisation directly. For a serious use, speak to a music-licensing solicitor; this is not professional advice.
Can I use copyrighted music in my YouTube video?
Only if you have the required permission or a licence that covers that use, unless a specific legal exception applies. An AI answer cannot confirm that an exception or licence protects your video.
Is royalty-free music the same as copyright-free music?
No. Royalty-free usually describes a licence arrangement, while the copyright can still exist and the licence can restrict platforms, edits, attribution or commercial use. Read the licence terms for the exact track.

Nearby answers

All Music & audio rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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