Hello everyone,
I’m reaching out from the music publishing side and would appreciate guidance from developers or anyone familiar with TestFlight governance.
We’ve identified an app that has been distributed via TestFlight for an extended period (regular renewals, updates, and new TestFlight builds). The app’s core functionality involves publishing copyrighted musical works (sheet music), without authorization from the authors or rightsholders.
We have attempted to contact the developer using the contact details available through the TestFlight listing and associated project information. To date, we have received no response, and the TestFlight distribution continues.
From our perspective, the developer appears to rely on TestFlight to keep the app off the App Store, where standard copyright enforcement mechanisms would normally apply.
My questions are:
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Does Apple consider long-term, continuously renewed TestFlight distribution to be a form of public distribution?
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Is there a mechanism within the Apple ecosystem to address repeated copyright infringement occurring specifically via TestFlight?
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From a developer-policy perspective, how does Apple Inc. typically handle cases where TestFlight is used to bypass compliance obligations rather than for genuine beta testing?
I’m not looking for legal advice here — just insight into how Apple and the developer community view and handle this type of situation.
Thanks in advance for any guidance or experience you can share.