US streaming-fraud inquiry: comment deadlines and privacy warning
The Copyright Office is seeking input on music streaming fraud. Initial comments are due November 23, and submitted information and files will be public.
The U.S. Copyright Office announced a music streaming fraud inquiry on October 7, following a congressional request to examine its prevalence and effects on the music industry. It is inviting public input on how fraud happens, how stakeholders try to stop it and possible voluntary, statutory or regulatory responses. Artists and listeners considering a comment should read the submission instructions before including personal information: the Office says all information and files provided will be publicly available.
The Office’s background page describes streaming fraud as the use of illegitimate methods to artificially increase a song’s plays. It lists bot farms, click farms, playlist stuffing and account hijacking, and says inflated plays dilute the royalty pool for legitimately streamed music. These are the Office’s description of the problem and its reasons for seeking evidence, not findings by VibeHype about a particular artist or streaming service.
Initial written comments must reach the Office by November 23, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. Written reply comments are due December 21, 2026, at the same time of day. The inquiry’s policy page links the notice and the submission instructions; the two deadlines are separate opportunities to submit initial comments and replies.
The Office directs commenters to Regulations.gov through the form linked at the bottom of its submission instructions. Short comments can be typed into the form’s Comment field, which has a 5,000-character limit. Longer comments must be uploaded in a single file no larger than six megabytes, in one of the listed accessible document formats. An uploaded document must include the submitter’s name and any represented organization at the top, even when those details also appear in the form. The Office asks commenters to use either typed comments or an uploaded file, rather than duplicate the same text in both.
Individuals commenting for themselves must provide their first and last names and leave the third-party submission box unchecked. Organizations must identify an authorized representative, check that box and supply the organization’s name. Contact information is optional, but the Office repeats that submitted information and files will be public. Its linked instructions explain the required fields and accepted file formats. VibeHype has checked those instructions, not completed a submission or tested the form’s operation.