Copyright owners are very careful and vigilant when it comes to protecting their material. There are many internet services to help you with this, and YouTube “Content ID” is one of those services. So when you upload a video to YouTube and get a copyright notice (copyright claim), you are dealing with the system. YouTube Content ID is designed to help content owners (composers and others, in our case publishers) and their distributors identify, monitor and monetize usage of their music on YouTube.
Why do you get a claim on your Youtube video?
YouTube compares uploaded videos against a database of audio and video content submitted by copyright owners to the content identification system. When content in an uploaded video (music in our case) matches the content in the database, YouTube sends a copyright notice that the video’s content has been identified. In this case, several scenarios can occur:
- The video can be blocked or deleted.
- Audio can be muted.
- A third-party ad can be placed over the video (this is the most common action) to monetize the content used in the video and to compensate content owners for the use of their content.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing something wrong. There are many instances where the content identification system will match the content that is similar but is not actually the same content. This is particularly common in classical music. There are many instances where multiple different companies representing the same artist or copyright owner claim copyright over the same content simply to get as much compensation as possible.
Authors may not even know that their content has been uploaded to the content identification system. It depends on the situation. In any case, if you have a license (or permission to use the music), you don’t have to worry.
How to solve copyright issues on Youtube?
- Getting music from royalty-free music sites
To help creators avoid copyright claims on YouTube, some music libraries accept royalty-free music licenses. With these services, you pay a flat fee to use your music, and in return, you’re good to go. You don’t have to worry about copyright infringement. You don’t have to share the revenue when you monetize your YouTube video.
Royalty-Free Music from the YouTube Audio Library
YouTube has its own library that allows you to play from a huge database of royalty-free music. You just need to add it to your YouTube videos directly from your library. It’s easy and best of all it’s free. , so you can only use a handful of tracks that everyone else can use. Learn more with this comprehensive guide to the YouTube audio library.
- Only use your own content
By far the safest way to avoid copyright infringement and strikes is to only use your own content on YouTube. If you only use music and videos that you create yourself, you don’t have to worry about copyrights because you own the content and make the rules for your own content. It’s the easiest thing you can do, but if you’ve already put a lot of effort into creating insanely good content, we understand you’ll probably want to brush it up with an iconic track.
- Adhere to the Fair Use Policy
You may have heard the term “fair use” before, and while it might sound like your free ticket to using any title in your content, it probably isn’t. Fair use may allow you to add a title and not get a claim, but that’s unlikely. In general, fair use does not cover you if you make money from the content. You made a totally non-profit video for educational purposes or something like that, but once you hit the monetize button, good luck claiming fair use. It’s worth noting that each fair use case is judged differently, so what may qualify as fair use for one person may not be fair use for another.
