At first, it’s easy to be on YouTube: think of an idea, record yourself with the camera and upload the video. However, the complicated part comes when you want to make money and need to do a copyright claim on YouTube.
YouTube has millions of sounds registered on its platform and it’s hard to find if someone has used one that is yours. Nevertheless, there are new technologies that help you recognize and claim the songs that you have rights to.
If you have never solved a copyright claim problem on YouTube here we have some tips that will make the process easier.
What is a YouTube copyright claim?
Basically, a YouTube copyright claim is when someone says that you are using their content on the platform and it can be an audio, an image or a video.
A YouTube copyright claim is when someone says that you are using their content on the platform and it can be an audio, an image or a video.
YouTube uses a technology to monitorize the content that people upload to the website and it’s called Content ID.
Content ID is an automatic tool that manages everything related to copyright claims on YouTube. This tool searches and analyzes different videos in order to find if a video has audio, image or video clips that are used without permission.
So, if you upload a music video with Content ID, you will be sure that no one will use your content without your express permission because, in case someone uses it, Content ID will recognize it quickly.
In this sense, if you want to know how to claim copyright on YouTube, maybe you like this post about how Content ID works and what it can do for content.
How to fix a copyright claim on YouTube
If someone has claimed some type of content on your videos, don’t worry! It won’t affect your channel severely. In other words, the copyright claims on YouTube only affect the video that has the claim. However, there are some options that can happen after the claim is done:
If you have used the content of other users, they can claim the revenue on your video or place ads on it in order to generate that revenue.
Another action they can take is to restrict your video in some countries or regions or block the video from YouTube worldwide.
They can also track the video to see how it’s going on the platform but this will disable the monetization. If your video is getting views, they can think about enabling the monetization later.
The last option they can do is to take no action but this isn’t something to rely on because the users probably will try to earn revenue from your video if you use their content.
How to dispute a copyright claim on YouTube
If you have a copyright claim on YouTube and you know that it is wrong, you can dispute it.
- YouTube Studio account.
First you will need to go to your YouTube Studio account. If you have an Official Artist Channel to upload your music videos, it will be easier for YouTube to recognize your content.
- Look for the video with the copyright claim
Through your YouTube Studio account, look for the video with the copyright claim you want to dispute and click the options to find “copyright claims”.
- Dispute the copyright claim
In the restrictions section, search the option “copyright claim” and there click on “see details”. From there, you will find an option that says “select action” and the “dispute”.
After you complete the process, they can release or take down your video depending on the result, but also the copyright claim can expire if the owner doesn’t respond within 30 days.
Content property conflicts
Inside the different types of claims we can find on YouTube, there is one known as property conflicts.
Assets property conflicts happen when multiple content owners jointly declare more than the 100% of the property of an asset in a specific territory. In other words, a property conflict occurs when multiple content owners claim property percentages and it’s more than the 100% in a specific region.
This type of property conflicts are more complicated to resolve and probably you will need some help, but the Copyright department of Republic Network has explain what they do in this cases in order to recover the blocked or postponed royalties:
- Carry out a catalog audit
- Request the necessary information from the client
- Make a F2F contact with the company in conflict
- After presenting the indicated information, we release the conflict
As you can see in the previous steps, this type of conflict is more tedious to release, so we recommend you to ask a specialized company to help you if a conflict like this happens to you.
From our Content and Copyright management area, the director Vanessa Vélez has told us what is the procedement inside Republic Network when it comes to solve a copyright claim: “First we have to identify the type of conflict, know why it appeared and be conscious of who claims it”.
“Once we have all the information verified, we get in touch with the entities that claim the content and, surprisingly, 90% of the claims that come to Republic Network are retired”.
How to claim a copyrighted content on YouTube
And what happens if someone used your music on a video? As we told you before, if you have Content ID you don’t have to worry about it because this tool will claim the copyrighted content for you.
On the other hand, you can work side by side with a publisher that takes care of your content making sure that no one is using your music without permission.
The advantages of working with a publisher is that they will help you with all the processes related to royalties and licenses like how to make your music appear on audiovisuals with synchronization licenses, for example.
Anyway, if you want to do it manually, you will need to send YouTube a copyright takedown notice.
If someone uses your content, you can send YouTube a copyright takedown notice.
What is a copyright takedown notice on YouTube
A copyright takedown notice on YouTube is a formal request from a content creator to YouTube to delete a video.
In order to send this notice, you need to click on your profile and select the “help” option. Then, you only have to write “Submit a copyright takedown notice” on the search bar and select the “submit a copyright complaint” option. From here, you can start the process of your claim.
Copyright claim vs copyright strike on YouTube
In case you are wondering: No, they are not the same. A copyright strike occurs when the owner of a copyrighted content asks YouTube to take down the video that is copyrighting their content.
So as to ask YouTube to remove a video from the platform, as the owner of the content you have to show YouTube the documents that proves that:
- The contact information of the rightsholder (that is you in case you are the rightsholder)
- A detailed description of the content (audio, image or video clip) that the channel you are claiming used without permission.
- A sworn statement declaring that the material is yours and it was used without express permission.
Be careful because getting one copyright strike on YouTube is a serious warning and your channel will lose the “good standing” position in YouTube’s eyes.
If you continue using content without permission and you get three strikes before solving the others, not only your channel and all uploaded videos will be removed but also you will be banned from creating another channel.
Be careful! If you get three strikes on YouTube your channel and uploaded videos will be removed.
Fair use on YouTube
YouTube has a legal doctrine known as Fair Use. This fair use concept refers to the reuse of any copyrighted material without the need of the permission of the owner.
How to use copyrighted content with fair use
We can’t tell you a universal rule to use the fair use because it depends on the country and its own copyright laws.
For example, in the United States, you can use content from other creators only with the purpose of comment, research, criticism, teaching or make a news report in order to identify it as fair use.
It happens a lot when it comes to creating music on YouTube, because a lot of people make reviews or comparisons between different artists. If you think you will need more information, you can take a look at how music works on YouTube.
If you want to reuse some content, you have to be careful and think carefully if it is fair use or not. On the other hand, when you want to claim a copyrighted content, you will have to study if that person is fair using your content.
In conclusion, when you start looking deeper at how to be a great YouTube user it might get a little complicated, but we hope that from Republic Network we cleared all the doubts and you start uploading your content without being frightened by copyright claims.
