Using Creative Commons Metadata in MP3s

This is a developer-oriented document. Read our non-technical account with explanatory comics first.

This document describes how to apply our non-web content guidelines to MP3s.

MP3 embedded metadata is placed in ID3 frames. Two of these will be used for embedding Creative Commons license claim metadata:

WCOP (Copyright/Legal information) should include the license URL. For example, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/.

WOAF (Official audio file webpage) should include the URL where the work metadata, including verification information, may be found. See Nonweb Tagging for information on verification metadata.

Historically a single field, TCOP, has been used for both purposes. New applications may support the TCOP method for compatibility, but WCOP/WOAF are preferred for clarity.

TCOP (Copyright Text) should include a human-readable license and license claim information. The contents of this frame are displayed by many programs in a "file info" window. Example value: 1995 Example Band. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ verify at http://example.com/cclicenses.html

If "verify at" exists in TCOP, everything after it must be the metadata URL and the preceding link must be the license URL.