Rate tiers & royalty base
Every rate tier, minimum guarantee, allowable deduction, territory and channel cap, and FX rule is extracted and translated into machine-readable math.
The most rigorous royalty-recovery audit a licensor can deploy.
The Royalty & License Contract-Compliance Recovery Engine parses every license agreement into a machine-readable rulebook, ingests royalty statements and underlying sales data, recomputes what was owed, and flags underpayment candidates with page-cited evidence — all before a licensed forensic-royalty specialist signs the findings letter and recovery demand.
Every rate tier, deduction, and territory cap parsedStatement-to-contract reconciliation, gate-checkedLicensee sales-data ingestion (where available)Licensed forensic specialist review on every file5-business-day SLA on desk reviews
Why audits fail
A single unreconciled deduction can leak thousands every quarter.
The global licensing industry generated $369.6 billion in retail sales in 2024. Almost all of that revenue flows to licensors through royalties that the licensee self-reports — a structurally conflicted arrangement. Practitioners across the Big Four and specialist forensic firms consistently report that ~85% of audited licensees under-report or under-pay royalties, that >90% of royalty audits surface underpayments, and that ~25% under-report by more than 100%.
Most licensors only audit their largest partners on a multi-year cycle because forensic accountants cost $300–$600/hr. The long tail of licensees is never checked and quietly leaks money every quarter.
The Royalty & License Contract-Compliance Recovery Engine exists to close that gap with a single, exhaustive standard applied identically to every file — making portfolio-wide, continuous royalty reconciliation economically viable for the first time.
~85%
of audited licensees under-report or under-pay royalties
The benchmark
Measured against the letter of the license — clause by clause.
We do not summarize the contract and hope. Every audit is scored against a versioned rule pack tied to the exact text of each license agreement. These are the provisions each file is held to.
Statement reconciliation
Each royalty statement line is recomputed against the contract rule pack; variances are flagged with page-cited evidence.
Sales-data ingestion
Where available, the licensee's underlying sales data is ingested and reconciled against reported figures to detect omissions or misclassifications.
Deduction & allowance audit
Every claimed deduction (returns, co-op, markdowns) is tested against the contract's allowable list; unauthorized deductions are flagged.
Minimum guarantee & shortfall
Cumulative royalties are compared against minimum guarantees; shortfalls and recoupment positions are computed.
Audit-rights & fee-shifting
The contract's audit-rights clause and fee-shifting provisions are extracted and applied; licensee pays audit costs when underpayment exceeds the contractual threshold (typically ~5%).
How an audit is built
Intake to specialist release, with deterministic gates the AI cannot overrule.
AI extracts and drafts. Deterministic rules — running as code, outside the model — decide what is complete. A licensed forensic-royalty specialist signs every release. That order is never reversed.
01
Royalty Leakage Scan
Upload one license agreement and the last four royalty statements. We return a free quantified underpayment-exposure estimate with cited discrepancies before you pay anything.
02
Contract rulebook creation
The AI engine parses the license agreement into a machine-readable royalty rulebook: rate tiers, deductions, territories, channels, FX rules, minimum guarantees, and audit-rights clauses.
03
Data ingestion & reconciliation
We ingest royalty statements and, where available, the licensee's underlying sales data. The engine recomputes what was owed and flags every variance with page-cited evidence.
04
Deterministic completeness gates
Amounts reconcile to the contract to the penny; every deduction is tested; minimum guarantees are checked; fee-shifting provisions are applied. Any failure blocks release.
05
Specialist review & sign-off
A licensed forensic-royalty specialist reviews the exception queue, owns the position, and signs the findings letter and recovery demand. High-value or complex matters route to attorney review first.
06
Delivery & recovery
You receive the findings letter, evidence log, recovery demand, and supporting exhibits — ready for the licensor to send under its own name or with our specialist's endorsement.
The bar we hold
Rigor you can measure.
100%
Specialist-reviewed
No findings letter ships without a licensed forensic-royalty specialist's signature.
5 days
Standard SLA (desk review)
From complete intake to released findings letter.
<1%
Critical-defect target
Tracked against a gold-standard audit library.
4+
Data sources reconciled
License agreement, royalty statements, sales data (where available), and public filings.
Why this engine
Built to be the most thorough option a licensor has.
Documentation-complete, by design
The deliverable is completeness itself — every contract clause and statement line accounted for or explicitly exception-coded. Nothing is left implicit.
Deterministic, not vibes
The gates that decide completeness are code, not a model's opinion. A reconciliation error cannot slip past a contractual requirement.
In its lane, on purpose
We prepare documentation and run analyses as your clerical agent. We never give legal advice, contact the licensee directly, or conduct settlement negotiations without your direction.
Engagement
Contingency on recovered funds, plus optional fixed-fee desk reviews. No hourly billing, ever.
Simple, predictable, and aligned with a recovery outcome — not a meter running.
- A free Royalty Leakage Scan before you commit — see exactly what is missing.
- Contingency share of cash recovered (typically 20–30%) — you pay only out of found money.
- Optional fixed-fee desk review for a single licensee (no contingency).
- Optional continuous-monitoring subscription for ongoing portfolio-wide reconciliation.
FAQ
Questions, answered precisely.
Is this a law firm?
No. The Royalty & License Contract-Compliance Recovery Engine, a service of Your Deputy, Obuke LLC, provides forensic-royalty analysis and documentation-completeness services. It is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and does not represent you in any legal matter. Attorney review is available and recommended for high-value or contested matters.
Do you contact the licensee or collect the underpayment?
Never without your direction. The licensor remains the party responsible for all communications and recovery actions. We prepare the findings and demand; you decide how to proceed.
What makes an audit 'complete'?
Completeness is defined by the contract: every rate tier, deduction, territory cap, and minimum guarantee reconciled against every statement line and available sales data. Deterministic gates enforce each one before release.
How fast is it?
The standard SLA for a desk review is five business days from complete intake to a specialist-released findings letter. The free Leakage Scan is returned much sooner and tells you exactly what is still needed.
How are you priced?
Contingency on recovered funds (typically 20–30%) for full recovery audits; fixed fees for desk reviews and continuous-monitoring subscriptions. No hourly billing and no percentage of any amount not recovered.
See what's leaking before it costs you another quarter.
Start with a free Royalty Leakage Scan. Upload one license agreement and the last four royalty statements and we'll return a quantified underpayment-exposure estimate with cited discrepancies.
Forensic-royalty analysis service · not legal advice · the licensor directs every recovery action.