The License Verification System (LVS) is an online tool to manage music licensing for choreographed sports / performing arts.
The core purpose of LVS is to help you, as a sports / performing arts administrator, to quickly, easily, and comprehensively manage the music licenses used in your sport / performing art to ensure they meet your needs, helping you protect yourself and your sport / performing art participants against music copyright infringement.
LVS is based around the concept of Seasons and Events.
You initially enrol all participants to a 'Season' in the system by sending a link as part of your normal onboarding process.
A ‘Season’ is a long-term (e.g. 1 year) 'event' that does NOT have a specific venue and allows you to:
Go through the music license verification process right at the start of the season as music is being chosen by all your participants.
Covers-off all general non-competition uses of the music by participants in the season (such as homecoming, game day, etc.).
Participants submit their music and associated licenses to the LVS system.
Any recorded music submitted is automatically identified by Content ID technology.
Music licenses are automatically read using a variety of techniques including AI.
The results are cross-checked against the music license requirements for your sport / performing art and the results displayed.
You can then similarly enrol participants in any Events that you want to set up during the Season at specific venues (e.g. championships).
Events offer additional functionality:
Export of Cue Sheets to facilitate reporting for related music licenses such as venue performing rights, live streaming, and video on demand.
Managing the playback of music accompaniment tracks.
Managing cue sheets for ‘background’ music played at the event (e.g. half-time, ceremonies) for reporting for venue performing rights licenses.
It is easy for participants to subsequently enrol in Events and re-use their Season’s music licensing verification information, or use new music which will be verified as needed.
Please note that verification happens automatically in a fraction of a second once each participant makes their submission. If a submission is identified as ‘Unlicensed’ or 'Unverified', it is flagged up to you for further action. You should regularly review LVS to monitor recent submissions during the submission process.
You can set up multiple Events during a Season (or standalone Events whenever you want).
You can add others from your organization to help you set up and administer events, and create ‘child’ organizations of your organization to help with structuring where you have a large number of activities to manage.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
LVS is based around the concept of Seasons and Events.
You initially enrol all participants to a 'Season' in the system by sending a link as part of your normal onboarding process.
A ‘Season’ is a long-term (e.g. 1 year) 'event' that does NOT have a specific venue and allows you to:
Go through the music license verification process right at the start of the season as music is being chosen by all your participants.
Covers-off all general non-competition uses of the music by participants in the season (such as homecoming, game day, etc.).
Participants submit their music and associated licenses to the LVS system.
Any recorded music submitted is automatically identified by Content ID technology.
Music licenses are automatically read using a variety of techniques including AI.
The results are cross-checked against the music license requirements for your sport / performing art and the results displayed.
You can then similarly enrol participants in any Events that you want to set up during the Season at specific venues (e.g. championships).
Events offer additional functionality:
Export of Cue Sheets to facilitate reporting for related music licenses such as venue performing rights, live streaming, and video on demand.
Managing the playback of music accompaniment tracks.
Managing cue sheets for ‘background’ music played at the event (e.g. half-time, ceremonies) for reporting for venue performing rights licenses.
It is easy for participants to subsequently enrol in Events and re-use their Season’s music licensing verification information, or use new music which will be verified as needed.
Please note that verification happens automatically in a fraction of a second once each participant makes their submission. If a submission is identified as ‘Unlicensed’ or 'Unverified', it is flagged up to you for further action. You should regularly review LVS to monitor recent submissions during the submission process.
You can set up multiple Events during a Season (or standalone Events whenever you want).
You can add others from your organization to help you set up and administer events, and create ‘child’ organizations of your organization to help with structuring where you have a large number of activities to manage.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
You can add others from your organization to help you set up and administer Seasons and Events, and create ‘child’ organizations of your organization to help with structuring where you have a large number of activities to manage and / or want to mirror your organisational structure and responsibilities in the system.
To edit your organization:
Click on the ‘My Profile’ head and shoulders icon in the top right corner.
Click on the ’My Organizations’ menu item that drops down.
Your Organization(s) will be shown.
Click the Edit link to the right of the name of the Organization you want to manage.
A new page will open with two tabs - ‘Edit’ and ‘Users’.
Edit
Allows you to:
Change the name of your organization. You can also see whether your Organization has a parent organization. LVS allows for a hierarchy of organizations, for example International > National > State > District level.
Upload a logo for your organization that will be displayed on your event pages.
And save your changes.
Users
Allows you to:
Add new users.
Edit the permissions of existing users.
Click on the small slider icons to switch each permission on and off for the user.
Press ‘Save’ when you are finished, to save your changes.
You can change the settings for any existing user at any time by pressing the blue edit button in the list of users of your organization.
* Create a child organization to help you manage your activities (for example a larger state organization could create its districts as child organizations, and / or create child organizations for different types of activity e.g. Marching, Show Choir, Spirit):
From the ‘My Organizations’ view, click the ‘+ Add’ blue button at the top right.
This takes you to a page where you can:
Add the new child organization name.
Select the name of the parent organization from the list that drops down when clicked.
Upload a logo for the new organization that will be displayed on its event pages.
Press the ‘Save’ button to save your changes and create the new organization.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
Navigate to the 'My Seasons' tab
Click the blue [+ Create Season ] button
This takes you to a page where you can very simply set up your Season:
Add the name of the new Season.
Select the start date of the new Season.
Select the end date of the new Season.
Select the applicable country the Season is being held in.
Select the applicable Organization from the drop down menu (in the majority of cases there will be just one entry unless you are affiliated with two or more organizations).
Seasons and Events can associate recordings, and / or arrangements, and ‘Other’ licensed IP with each participant, depending on what music and other IP you need to check for your sports / performing arts Season.
If Participants will be using sound recordings (e.g. gymnastics, figure skating, dance etc.), select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for 'Do your users need to upload audio to this event?'. AND / OR
If Participants will be using musical arrangements, select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for ‘Are any of your teams/athletes using musical arrangements?’, otherwise select 'No'. If you select ‘Yes’, you will be presented with a new question ‘Require work start and end times?’. Select Yes if you want to require your participants to enter the start and end times of each work in their program so you can build up an accurate record of how much of each piece of music was used. If not, select ‘No’. AND
If Participants will be also using other copyrighted IP that you want to keep track of , e.g images, select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for ‘Allow Other Copyrighted Item Upload?’, otherwise select ‘No’.
Allowed License Sources. You can configure the licensed sources that are presented to Participants using arrangements by clicking on the list and clicking on each item in the drop down menu to remove it from or add it to the list.
Season Contact Email: Enter the email address you want your participants to contact with questions regarding the Season.
Enable Sign Up Fields?: If you want to add your own custom questions inputs to the sign up process and store the responses for each participant, e.g. Participant ID, select ‘Yes’ from the dropdown menu, otherwise ‘No’.
You can manage multiple questions (add, delete, re-order) using the UI.
Press the ‘Save’ button to save your changes and create the new Season.
The Season will now appear in your ‘My Seasons’ tab under the 'Current Seasons' tab.
You can then ‘View’ the event at any time by pressing the blue ‘View’ button.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
There are two initial routes to creating an Event:
A: Within a Season:
Navigate to the 'My Seasons’ tab
From the Events tab click the blue [ + Create Event] button.
This will pre populate the configuration from the Season to your Event, saving you some time.
B: From ‘My Events’ / Creating a Copy of an Event:
Click the blue [+ Create Season ] button. This will run through a full Event set up which will repeat some of the Season information, if you have one.
You can also create a copy of an existing Event using the '...' menu at the end of the row containing a current Event, which will also copy all configurations. This is more efficient if you have a series of Events in a Season.
The setup for an Event is identical regardless of which route , and you are taken you to a page where you can very simply set up your Event:
You’ll then be asked to fill in some information about the event:
The Basics
Your event name
The event start and end dates
Select the applicable Organization from the drop down menu (in the majority of cases there will be just one entry unless you are affiliated with two or more organizations).
The email address of the person Participants should contact in case of any queries about the Event.
The address of the venue.
Configuration
Event type (cheer, marching band, etc.) address of the venue,
Optionally add different divisions that are in your Event (e.g. Juniors, 4A) that you want Participants to sign up for when they accept your invitation to the event.
The following information will be pre-populated if you are creating your Event via ‘My Seasons’ (A above). Otherwise you will need to enter it, or if it is pre-populated you can change it here:
If Participants will be using sound recordings (e.g. gymnastics, figure skating, dance etc.), select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for 'Do your users need to upload audio to this event?'. AND / OR
If Participants will be using musical arrangements, select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for ‘Are any of your teams/athletes using musical arrangements?’, otherwise select 'No'. If you select ‘Yes’, you will be presented with a new question ‘Require work start and end times?’. Select Yes if you want to require your participants to enter the start and end times of each work in their program so you can build up an accurate record of how much of each piece of music was used. If not, select ‘No’. AND
If Participants will be also using other copyrighted IP that you want to keep track of , e.g images, select ‘Yes’ from the drop down menu for ‘Allow Other Copyrighted Item Upload?’, otherwise select ‘No’.
Allowed License Sources. You can configure the licensed sources that are presented to Participants using arrangements by clicking on the list and clicking on each item in the drop down menu to remove it from or add it to the list.
Sign Up
Allow Entry Creation on sign up? Select Yes if you want participants to be able to create new entries on the Event themselves (this is the default). Select No if you want to create the entries yourself and allow Participants to claim them.
Would you like to prevent Particpants from signing up / making changes. The default is No, so that teams can sign up. If you have a cut off date, after which you will not allow sign ups and / or changes, you can edit the Event on that date and select Yes, which will then block new signups and changes.
Enable Sign Up Fields?: If you want to add your own custom questions inputs to the sign up process and store the responses for each participant, e.g. Participant ID, select ‘Yes’ from the dropdown menu, otherwise ‘No’.
You can manage multiple questions (add, delete, re-order) using the UI.
File Management (optional)
If you have configured your Event to allow sound recordings, you can individually configure one or more the following file management parameters:
Minimum and maximum length of the track,
Allowed audio file types,
Required track naming convention,
upload a short audio file that will automatically be prepended to each Participant’s uploaded sound file (e.g. standard countdown beeps).
Branding
You can upload branding images for your organization and your Event that are displayed as your participants interact with LVS.
Optional file management settings for audio files, you can specify duration of files, audio file types, track naming conventions, and upload a short audio file that gets pre-pended to each audio track upload (e.g. a standard 3 ‘beeps’ to indicate the music is about to start, or whatever you want to upload).
You can upload branding images for your organization and your event that are displayed as your participants interact with LVS.
Press the ‘Save’ button to save your changes and create the new Event.
The Event will now appear in your ‘My Events’ tab under the Upcoming Events' tab, and in the ‘Events’ tab of the Season you created it from.
You can then ‘View’ the Event at any time by pressing the blue ‘View’ button, and Edit it by pressing the ‘Edit’ button.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
The core set of music rights needed by choreographed performance sports and performing arts participants are similar.
Typical uses made of music are:
or arrangements of songs for live performance (alone or in a medley)
The rights related to these uses are needed IN ADDITION to any public performing rights required by the venues where you carry out your practice and competition, or any livestream, video-on-demand, or broadcast rights required by the organizers of events in which you participate.
For each song used, the license(s) must authorize the participant to use the music for the above core set of things as applicable for their your use, and:
be from a valid source.
have been issued to you rather than another participant.
cover the master recording if a music file is used.
cover 100% of the songwriting / composition owners for the above rights in all cases.
be current (i.e. validly entered into, and not expired).
be valid for the territory in which your events take place.
LVS AUTOMATICALLY reads the submitted license files to check each of these things, and in the case of recorded music recognises the music submitted and cross checks against the licenses.
Verification Status 'Traffic Lights':
As soon as you make a submission, LVS automatically attempts to verify the submission. This takes a fraction of a second. It provides an overview of its results using a traffic light system.
Please note that if your result is anything other than 'Green' (Licensed) your administrator will be asked to review - during the submission period they will regularly monitor recent submissions, and help you overcome issues.
Licensed
LVS has verified all rights against the license for each song. Being ‘all green’ is a strong motivator for participants.
Unverified
Your administrator may accept, reject, or enter into email dialogue with you about the submission until they are satisfied.
Partially Verified
Where multiple songs are used in a submission, if LVS detects a mix of verified and unverified songs you get a half yellow, half green traffic light. Your administrator may accept, reject, or enter into email dialogue with you about the submission until they are satisfied.
Unlicensed
No proof of licensing has been found. Your administrator may enter into email dialogue with you about the submission until they are satisfied.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
Navigate to your 'My Seasons' page, and click the blue View button relating to the Season you want to View / Manage:
You can edit the Season by pressing the Edit button at the top right of the page.
You can copy the invitation link to send to your participants using the 'copy' icon next to the 'Team/Althlete Sign Up Link'.
There are three tabs:
Actions - This is your 'To Do' list where submissions that need your attention are highlighted. You can use the links to toggle between 'All' and 'Since last visit' to focus on the most recent items
Entries - This is the list of all those who have enrolled for the Season to date (regardless of whether they have submitted anything yet). You can use the filter Entries by using the filter icon at the top of each column next to the column name.
Events - This shows a list of any / all Events that are associated with your Season. You can use the [+ Create Event] button to create a new Event that is pre-populated with the configuration of your Season.
You can use the search box on every tab to Search for particular Participants by name or email address.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
Navigate to your 'My Events’ page, and click the blue View button relating to the Event you want to View / Manage:
You can edit the Event by pressing the Edit button at the top right of the page.
You can copy the invitation link to send to your participants using the 'copy' icon next to the 'Team/Althlete Sign Up Link'
You can sign up a Team / Athlete to the Event using the blue [Signup Team / Athlete] button.
There are four tabs:
Actions - This is your 'To Do' list where submissions that need your attention are highlighted.
You can use the links to toggle between 'All' and 'Since last visit' to focus on the most recent items.
You can use the search box to Search for particular Participants by name or email address.
Entries - This is the list of all those who have enrolled for the Event to date (regardless of whether they have submitted anything yet).
You can re-order Entries by clicking the ‘...’ menu icon at the top of each column next to the column name.
You can use the blue [Export] to export the current Event information to a CSV file.
You can use the search box to Search for particular Participants by name, email address, or division.
Playback - This shows a list of any / all recorded music submissions, and allows you to audition / playback each track, including if your computer is linked to the venue sound system.
You can use the blue [Export] button to download all information into a CSV file.
You can use the blue [Download] button to download all recorded audio files into a .zip file on your device.
You can use the ‘Stream Offline’ link to download all recorded audio files into your current browser window / instance. This allows your playback to be robust / independent of your internet connection quality. The recorded audio files remain available to your browser locally as long as you have the browser window / instance open, otherwise you need to re-download by clicking ‘Stream Offline’ again.
You can use the search box to Search for particular Participants by name, email address, or division.
Background Music - you can use the blue [ Upload Track List] button to optionally upload a list of tracks that are play outside competition, for example during intervals or medal ceremonies. This allows you to provide a cue sheet for licensing purposes such as venue performing rights, live steam, and video on demand.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.
LVS accepts ANY type of music and licenses from any valid source as long as you upload explicit and valid licenses for each of the rights required, for each song you use.
Please see the ‘LVS Verification Overview and Status ‘Traffic Lights’ section of this guide for more information on the music rights that are required and the meaning of the verification traffic light colors.
Verification happens immediately, in a fraction of a second.
For Recorded Music:
Content ID technology is used to automatically recognize the tracks actually used in the submission.
You see the overview traffic light, and can click to drop down and see the detailed results.
The Content ID results for each 10 second segment of your mix is displayed.
You can hit the play button to playback the file and see the waveform lined up against the 10 second content ID segments.
For Recorded Music and Musical Arrangements:
A variety of different technologies including AI are used to automatically review license submissions, and cross-checks against any recorded music submitted, or the input list of songs from ensembles.
If, however, the result is anything other than 'Green' (Licensed) you will be asked to review via the Actions tab - during the submission period you should regularly monitor recent submissions.
You can always get back to the verification results from your Season or Event by clicking either the blue underlined participant name or the blue 'View' button.
PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE POSSIBLE TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS:
Using Licenses from ClicknClear:
ClicknClear licenses contain all the rights needed.
Each license is a 3 way agreement between the music producer, team, and ClicknClear.
ClicknClear tracks are subject to the same verification process as every other recorded audio and music license.
However to make it easier for Participants we are able to automatically retrieve their licenses from our system, so no license uploads are required.
ClicknClear hopes to add similar integration with other license providers in future.
Using Bespoke Music:
'Bespoke’ music should be original and specifically created for the participant.
If music was created using production music libraries, Participant should NOT use 'Bespoke' and instead select the 'Other' license type.
This allows the licenses to the production music libraries used to be verified.
Participants either submit a readable pdf of the license file provided to them or, if they don’t have a license file they can send a link to their music provider that takes them to a simple webform where they can confirm the rights that the Participant has to the music.
Verification results:
Verification happens immediately, in a fraction of a second.
The overview amber traffic light has a status of 'Pending', and the music license information has not yet been supplied by the music provider. When it is supplied LVS reviews the submission against the rights needed.
With bespoke music there will be no verification matches found as the music is entirely original.
Using Stock Arrangements of a Work:
'Stock Arrangement' should be selected as the license source to submit a stock arrangement of a work.
Participants enter:
The Work Title:
All the Composer Names of the
people who created the work.
Where they purchased the stock arrangement from.
Submit an image of the first page of the stock arrangement showing the title of the work and if possible a stamp to show it is owned by their ensemble or organization.
The overview amber traffic light has a status of 'Unverified'.
You need to view this image to approve the stock arrangement submission.
Public Domain Music:
'Public Domain' should be selected as licensed source for music that is out of copyright, either due to expiry of copyright or it is been placed in the public domain by the creator via e.g. a Creative Commons license.
Public Domain licenses can be difficult to verify, and care is needed.
Participants are asked to provide information that will help confirm whether a recording is in the public domain:
Title of the Song
Year of release if recording (if applicable)
Recording Artist(s) (if applicable)
Composer(s) and date of death for each
ISRC and ISWC codes for the recording and / or song (if known)
The source(s) being cited as evidence that the music is in the public domain
Optional additional supporting information
Recordings enter the public domain many decades after the recording was made (the specific figure varies country by country).
Song publishing rights enter the public domain many decades after the death of the last surviving writer / composer (the specific figure varies country by country).
BOTH the recording AND the publishing rights of recorded music must be in the public domain for the recording to be used without a license. If the song (publishing) is in the public domain, but the specific recording used is still under copyright, then a license from the copyright owner(s) is needed before the recording can be used.
Using music licensed from Other Sources:
'Other' should be selected if the music usedis NOT from ClicknClear, Bespoke, Stock Arrangement, or Public Domain sources and was licensed from:
the artists and music publishers directly
third party license sources (e.g. sound-alike cover music providers)
music producers who use production music libraries to create custom music for your routine
A note on cover music:
Some providers of sound-alike cover music offer licenses for sports use. In many cases such providers only license rights to their sound-alike recording, and EXCLUDE publishing rights from their license. This means that additional licenses from the songwriters / composers are needed before these cover music tracks can be used with routines.
Participants input information related to each song included in the music:
Title of the Song
Recording Artist(s) (if applicable)
Songwriter(s) / Composer(s) (if an arrangement license)
Where they got the music from, such as a Provider of Production Music / Cover Music / Direct from Recording Artist / Direct from all Songwriters / Composers or their authorized representatives.
One or more license files covering all the tracks / songs used in the submission. Separate licenses for each can be submitted, or one license file related to all.
PLEASE NOTE if music was received from a music producer who licensed cover music or production music, the license from the producer should include the original license files for the music used in the submission for verification.
If, after reading this guide, you still want to get in touch with questions or feedback please email support@clicknclear.com.