Content policy

What an excerpt is

An excerpt is a short, self-contained musical phrase: a riff, an intro, a motif or part of a chorus. The studio limits it to 16 bars and 30 seconds at its reference tempo. Moderators also refuse series of excerpts that would rebuild a whole piece fragment by fragment.

This limit is a product rule. It is not a rights rule: rights are checked separately.

Four different rights

For any piece of music we distinguish:

• the work itself (melody, composition);
• the arrangement that was used;
• the source file, for example a MIDI file made by someone else;
• the sound recording.

What we publish

An excerpt is published only when a documented basis for publication exists for it:

• original compositions submitted by their author;
• public-domain works, in an arrangement you made yourself or one that is itself free to use;
• works under a licence that allows it, with the licence named;
• other works only where the publication policy validated for the territories concerned allows it.

What is not enough

A short duration, a credit, a transcription into buttons or an original synthesised sound does not by itself authorise the publication of a protected melody. Without a validated basis, an excerpt stays private or is refused.

Provenance is always required

Tell us where your transcription comes from, even for a personal arrangement: by ear, from your own score, from a file and its licence. Supporting documents are seen by moderators only.

Never accepted

Nintendo logos, hosted screenshots, ROMs, character models, imitation fonts, audio samples from the game, lyrics, commercial recordings, audio or video uploads, and anything hateful, harassing or illegal.

Player videos are links to public posts on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, checked by a moderator; the post stays on its network under its author's responsibility. A song picture (band logo, artist picture, own artwork) is set by moderators only, with a credit to its owner, and is removed on request.

Review, reports and withdrawal

A revision goes from draft to submitted, then to changes requested, approved or rejected. Approving publishes that exact revision. Editing a published tab creates a separate draft; the public version stays until the new one is approved or the tab is withdrawn. A withdrawal takes effect immediately on the catalogue, the reader and the ranking.

To report a tab use the “Report” link under it. Rights holders can also write to contact@ocarinabuttontabs.com.