Terms of Service

The rules for using Ky during the free beta. Short version — Ky compares notes; it doesn't give legal advice, and you stay responsible for your music.

Effective 25 October 2026 · version 2026-10-25

These terms are a contract between you and the operator of Ky ("Ky", "we", "us"), a non-commercial research project run from the United Kingdom. By creating an account, connecting a plugin, or uploading a file you agree to them, to the Privacy Policy and to the Results Disclaimer. If you don't agree, please don't use Ky.

1. What Ky is

Ky compares the musical notes in MIDI files you give it against a catalogue of publicly available MIDI transcriptions, or against each other, and reports where the notes resemble another work, how closely, and how common that material is. It is an indicative similarity analysis. It is not a determination that anything infringes, or does not infringe, anyone's rights.

2. The beta

Ky is in free, non-commercial beta. That means:

• No payment and no card details are required, there is no advertising, and the catalogue is used on a research basis (see Catalogue licences). If we ever introduce paid plans we will tell you at least 30 days in advance; nothing you have already done will be charged.
• The service may change, pause, or stop at any time. Features marked coming soon may not arrive.
• Results, accounts and stored files may be reset. Keep your own copies of anything you care about.
• We may apply fair-use limits (files per check, file size, files per day). None are in force at the moment beyond a 25 MB file size; we will say here when that changes.

3. Your account

You need an account to see detailed results, keep them, or connect a plugin. Keep your password and API keys private; you are responsible for what is done with them. Tell us at security@ky.ax if you think a key has leaked and we will revoke it. One person, one account. You must be 16 or over.

4. Your files and your music

• You keep every right in the music you upload. We claim none.
• You must have the right to upload it. Upload other people's work only where you are allowed to.
• We store your files and results so you can see them (see the Privacy Policy for how long). We do not add your music to the catalogue, train models on it, sell it, or share it, except as the Privacy Policy describes.
• You may delete a check or your whole account at any time; the files and results go with it.

5. Results are not advice

This is the important bit, so it has its own page: the Results Disclaimer is part of these terms. In short: Ky's results are information, not legal advice, and not a guarantee. A "clear" result does not mean nobody can bring a claim against your work. A "likely shared material" result does not mean you have done anything wrong. The catalogue is incomplete, transcriptions contain errors, and Ky cannot know who wrote what first, what is licensed, or what is protected where you live. Before you rely on a result for anything that matters — releasing, licensing, responding to a claim, making a claim — get advice from a qualified lawyer or forensic musicologist.

6. What you may not do

Don't use Ky to harass anyone, to build a competing catalogue, to probe, scrape or overload the service, to upload anything unlawful, or to circumvent limits or security. Don't share API keys with other people or services. We may suspend accounts that do.

7. Plugins and third-party tools

Plugins and the "Check with Ky" protocol send the MIDI from your tool to Ky. They are provided under the same terms. Suno, Udio, REAPER, MuseScore, Ableton, Apple, Image-Line, Steinberg and the other names and logos mentioned or shown are trademarks of their owners, shown only to say which tools Ky works with; Ky is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

8. Our liability

We provide Ky "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. To the fullest extent the law allows:

• We are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or inability to use, Ky, or from reliance on any result — including lost revenue, lost profits, legal costs, claims by third parties, or damage to reputation — whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, even if we were told it was possible.
• In particular, we are not liable if Ky fails to detect a resemblance that later forms the basis of a claim against you, or reports a resemblance that turns out to be immaterial.
• Our total liability to you for all claims together is limited to the greater of £100 and the amount, if any, you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

9. Your responsibility to us

You agree to compensate us for losses and reasonable costs arising because you broke these terms or uploaded something you had no right to upload.

10. Changes

We may update these terms. If the change matters we will show it on the site or email you, and the new version number will appear above. Using Ky after a change means you accept it.

11. Ending things

You can stop using Ky and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or close accounts that break these terms, or close the beta. Sections 4–9 survive.

12. Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales and its courts have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you can also bring proceedings there, and consumers in the EU or UK keep any mandatory protections of their home law.

13. Contact

Ky · hello@ky.ax