If you’re a music artist who wants to use YouTube to share your work, chances are you’re already familiar with copyright. However, if you’ve ever wondered how YouTube’s Content ID system works or how it affects artists’ rights and responsibilities, this quick guide will get you up to speed.
YouTube’s Content ID system lets copyright holders find videos that infringe on their content and either block them or allow ads on them.
Content ID is a system that allows copyright holders to find videos that infringe on their content and either block them or allow ads on them.
How Content ID works:
A user uploads a video to YouTube, which is then scanned by the Content ID system. This scan compares audio or visual elements in the uploaded video with content owned by rights holders for any matches. If there are any matches, you’ll receive an email alerting you of this fact and giving you options to either dispute the claim or accept it so that ads can run against your video while it remains to live on YouTube (or removed entirely).
If you dispute a claim, you can either provide evidence that the content in question isn’t yours or argue that it is fair use. If your video doesn’t have any audio or visual elements from the original work, for example, and therefore cannot infringe on the rights holder’s copyright, then this will be easy to prove. However, if there are elements from another creator’s work in your video that aren’t covered by fair use laws
1. The copyright holder uploads a claim with a reference file of the work they want to be protected to the Content ID system.
Once you have your Content ID account and have uploaded a reference file for your work, it’s time to make sure that YouTube doesn’t mistakenly identify other people’s content as yours.
The copyright holder uploads a claim with a reference file of the work they want to be protected to the Content ID system.
A video is uploaded using their copyrighted material (the “infringing content”).
The copyright holder gets notified by YouTube that there is infringing content on their channel because they used Content ID!
2. YouTube scans uploaded videos and compares the content to the reference files in Content ID before they’re available to view online.
YouTube scans uploaded videos and compares the content to the reference files in Content ID before they’re available to view online.
The YouTube Content ID system scans uploaded videos and compares the content to reference files in Content ID before they’re available to view online. The system is automated, so it can identify copyrighted material even if it’s been altered or manipulated after an original was created by a third party. The fingerprinting system identifies copyrighted material and then matches it against reference files owned by rights holders.
3. Once a match is made, YouTube gives the copyright holder several options, including blocking the clip, monetizing it through YouTube’s ad programs (including YouTube Red), or tracking it.
Once a match is made, YouTube gives the copyright holder several options, including blocking the clip, monetizing it through YouTube’s ad programs (including YouTube Red), or tracking it.
Blocking the video will prevent it from being viewed on YouTube. In some cases, you may want to stop a clip if your manager has already created a similar music video that features your song and you don’t want to risk competing with him/her.
Monetizing can generate revenue for you when someone views this particular page. If you choose this option, ads will be placed around your content and YouTube will pay out any money generated by those advertisements directly into your account after 45 days (provided there are no discrepancies).
Tips for music artists:
Here are some tips for music artists who want to use copyrighted material in their videos:
Make sure you have permission from the rights holders.
Don’t download videos from unauthorized sites and re-upload them to YouTube (or any other site).
If you’ve received a copyright claim from your video and you believe that your use of copyrighted material is permissible under fair use, try filing a dispute.
a) If you’re using someone’s music in your video, make sure you have permission from the rights holder.
You may be surprised to learn that YouTube does not require you to have permission for using someone else’s music in your videos. However, the video hosting service does require you to have permission from the rights holder if you plan on monetizing your video or being paid directly by a third party. If you don’t have this permission, you could easily run afoul of copyright law and get hit with a copyright strike.
You may think this only applies if you’re making money off of your content on YouTube, but it applies even if your channel is just an amateur hobbyist project. If someone has posted their music on YouTube and doesn’t want anyone else using it without getting paid (or at all), then they can report it as a violation and potentially get their music removed from your channel!
b) Don’t download videos from unauthorized sites and re-upload them to YouTube (or any other site). Just because the video is posted somewhere for free doesn’t mean that you have permission to use it in your work.
If you do want to use someone else’s work, make sure that they are permitting you to do so.
The Content ID system is how YouTube allows copyright holders (like record labels and movie studios) to find videos that infringe on their content and either block them or allow ads on them. When a copyright holder uploads a claim with a reference file of the work they want to be protected, YouTube automatically scans all uploads for matches based on audio and video fingerprinting technology, which compares your video against others in its database looking for similarities in the audio or visual elements of those other videos.
If the Content ID matches your video against other uploaded files that have been submitted by copyright holders as reference files, then one of three things will happen:
You’ll receive an email from YouTube informing you that someone has claimed ownership over one or more elements within your video—and asking if it’s okay if they monetize it (assume not), block it worldwide (assume not), or just block specific countries until further notice (assume yes). If a user chooses this third option, their account will be suspended until further notice since there’s no way around suspending accounts when someone publicly claims ownership over certain parts of them!
If another user submits a claim for an advertisement appearing alongside one of your videos containing copyrighted material without authorization from the rights-holder(s) involved – ei
c) If you’ve received a copyright claim from your video and you believe that your use of copyrighted material is permissible under fair use, try filing a dispute here: https://www.youtube.com/yt/copyright/fair-use.html#
If you’ve received a copyright claim from your video and you believe that your use of copyrighted material is permissible under fair use, try filing a dispute here: https://www.youtube.com/yt/copyright/fair-use.html#
When you file a dispute, YouTube will review the content that was claimed on your video and make a decision based on several factors, including:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is commercial or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
The nature of the copyrighted work;
The amount and substantiality of the portion used about the copyrighted work as a whole; and
The effect of using upon potential market value for or value derived from the original material (i.e., whether allowing usage would reduce revenues from sales).
Learn more about Content ID here: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797370?hl=en
Access your Copyright Notices & Disputes here: https://www.youtube.com/copyright_notices
Check out this video for more information on how to dispute a copyright claim: https://youtu.be/J1bBn-AoY2Q
Learn more about fair use here: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/#whatisfairuse
Conclusion
Much of the information we’ve discussed in this article should be common sense. There are a few key points that we want you to remember:
Never download videos from unauthorized sources and repost them on YouTube or any other platform. This is a copyright infringement and will get you into trouble (not to mention it can hurt your channel).
Make sure that you have permission from the rights holder before using any copyrighted material in your video. If there’s any doubt about this, contact an attorney for advice on how best to proceed with your project.
