YouTube Copyright Rules: 3 Things You Should Know

YouTube copyright protects creators’ intellectual property from theft and unauthorized use. The platform takes copyright claims seriously, so it’s crucial to avoid breaching YouTube copyright rules. Otherwise, the platform can remove your video or even your channel. 

Here’s how copyright works on YouTube and what you should do if you get a strike on your account. 

What’s Copyright?

Copyright law protects original authorship and intellectual property (IP). Works eligible for this legal protection include:

• Movies and videos
• Books
• Computer software
• Illustrations
• Musical compositions
• Paintings
• Photos
• Plays and scripts
• Poems

Creations must be original and made by a human to receive copyright protection. This means that works created by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted — at least under current U.S. law. 

Anyone can hold a copyright, whether they’re the original author or an organization that purchases IP. This gives the copyright owner the following rights:

• Recreation — Authors may make imitations based on the original work.
• Performance — Rights holders may display and present the work publicly. Examples include plays, musicals, movies, or audiovisual media.
• Monetization — Owners can distribute copies for sale, transfer, lease, or rent.

Copyright protection lasts for different lengths of time, depending on when the work was published. For content created on or after January 1, 1978, protections apply for the author’s lifetime plus seventy years after the author’s death (or after the last surviving author’s death if it’s a joint work). 

The timeline for anonymous or works made for hire is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Pieces created before 1978 follow different timeframe guidelines. 

Understanding YouTube Copyright Violations

YouTube requires creators to upload only original videos or authorized third-party content. Using someone else’s music, videos, or images without permission can have consequences. 

If a copyright owner submits a valid claim against you, YouTube can take down your video and give you a copyright strike. The first time you get a strike, you’ll need to attend Copyright School. This program explains what copyright laws are and how YouTube enforces them.

Strikes last for 90 days, and if you get three strikes within three months, YouTube can terminate your account and remove all your videos. However, creators in the YouTube Partner Program qualify for a seven-day courtesy period, which gives them one week to act and avoid account termination. 

If you believe other creators are infringing on your copyright, YouTube offers a few tools to help:

• Webform — This simple tool allows anyone to submit a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) web form. It prompts YouTube to review and remove posts that breach copyright.
• Content ID — Content ID lets users upload reference files, which YouTube uses to find videos matching the protected content. If the platform discovers matching posts, they can prevent videos from being viewed, demonetize the content, or track viewership statistics. 
• Copyright Match Tool — This tool uses Content ID technology to find reuploaded videos of original works. Suppose YouTube finds an account that reposts episodes of a Netflix show without permission. In that case, the copyright owner can remove the video, message the uploader, or archive the match if the owner isn’t ready to act.

The Rights and Wrongs of YouTube Copyright

YouTube has numerous policies to protect copyright owners, making the platform a business and creator-friendly space. 

Knowing how these policies work is crucial to avoiding YouTube copyright strikes. Follow these do’s and don’ts to keep your account unrestricted.

Do

• Get written permission — Before adding music to YouTube videos, ask the artist or copyright owner.
• Find free resources — Use public domain, license-free, and original content to avoid paying excessive licensing fees.‍
• Buy licenses — Instead of using someone else’s content, get music, videos, and images from sources like Shutterstock and Getty Images.

Don’t

• Use content without permission — Never use any copyrighted work without consent from the author or owner. 
• Rely on credit alone — Giving credit isn’t the same as asking for permission. Just because you gave the author a shoutout doesn’t mean you can use copyrighted content. 
• Make slight adjustments and repost — Don’t copy or mimic original works without permission. There are fair use clauses that allow parody, commentary, or reporting. However, it may not qualify for those protections if you don’t transform the work enough.

YouTube Copyright Best Practices

Copyright rules can be confusing, making it difficult to determine whether you’ve legally used someone else’s content. Follow these best practices to keep your channel strike-free. 

Understand Copyright Exceptions

Regulations vary between countries, and YouTube considers local laws when deciding whether to remove a post. So, it’s important to know the rules in your region before uploading. 

The best way to avoid breaching YouTube’s copyright policies is to learn about fair use. Under certain circumstances, you can use copyrighted material without permission. In the U.S., the four factors used to determine fair use include:

• The purpose and character of the use — If the content is transformative enough, it typically qualifies as fair use. Content that’s made for profit is less likely to qualify for fair use than pieces made for educational purposes.
• The nature of the work — Factual works qualify for fair use more than fictional pieces. Often, people use facts in a more transformative or educational way, like creating a commentary post. Creative works, though, are more likely to be seen as competing with the original.
• The amount used relative to the whole — Using small bits of original content is more likely to qualify for fair use than borrowing large or essential sections.
• The effect on the copyrighted work’s value — Anything that harms the value or right to profit from the original work is less likely to qualify for fair use.

These rules can get complicated and are often highly subjective. While content used for criticism, parody, commentary, or academic purposes usually qualifies for fair use, this isn’t always true. If in doubt, it’s always best to ask for permission or get a license for copyrighted material rather than rely solely on fair use. 

Don’t Fall for the Attribution Trap

Some creators mistakenly believe (and may even tell others) that giving the original author credit is enough to avoid a copyright strike. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. Adding text like “content originally created by X” or “all rights belong to Y” to your video content or descriptions doesn’t protect you. It doesn’t matter if you gave credit or used watermarked content — if you neglected to ask for the copyright owner’s permission, it’s still a violation.

Resolve Copyright Strikes Early and Often

Just because you get a copyright strike doesn’t mean you should take it without complaint. Often, creators get strikes despite making efforts to ensure the borrowed content falls under fair use guidelines. If this happens, you should dispute the strike as soon as possible and keep track of when the strike took effect so you know when it falls off (90 days).

How To Handle a YouTube Copyright Claim or Strike

It’s important to know what happens when you get a copyright strike and how to deal with one. Let’s look at some common ways to handle a copyright strike:

Wait for It To Expire

Strikes fall off your account in 90 days. So, if it’s your first one and you don’t care if the video is removed, it might be best to wait it out.

Ask the Copyright Owner To Retract the Claim

If you know who owns the copyright, you can ask them to take back their copyright infringement claim. This method often involves back-and-forth conversations and (perhaps) an apology.

Submit a Counter Notification

If you think a removed post should qualify for fair use, submit a counter notification. The claimant has 10 days to respond. Otherwise, your video is automatically reinstated. Here’s how to submit one:

1. Sign in — Log into YouTube Studio.
2. Look for your post — Select “Content,” and in the filter bar, click “Copyright.” Find the video with the claim.
3. Open the form — Under “Content identified in this video,” tap “Select Actions,” then “Submit counter notification.”
4. File — Fill out the form, including your contact info, rationale, and any supporting statements
5. Send — Click “Submit” to file.

Dispute a Content ID Claim

You can dispute videos that are unfairly flagged by YouTube’s Content ID system within 30 days. Follow these steps to dispute a Content ID claim:

1. Log in — Sign into YouTube Studio.
2. Locate your video — Click “Content” and find the post flagged by Content ID.
3. Open settings — In the “Restrictions” column, hover over “Copyright” and tap “See Details.”
4. Submit — Under “Content identified in this video,” click Select Actions, then Dispute.

Make Original YouTube Posts With Captions

Copyright infringement can be scary, which is why it’s essential to create engaging original content and avoid copyright on YouTube. That’s where Captions comes in. 

Whether you use YouTube or TikTok, Captions has many features to help you create and edit content quickly. One such tool is AI Creator, which allows you to generate videos while remaining copyright compliant. This feature inserts lifelike avatars into your posts with lip-synced mouth movements that match your script, making it easy to produce engaging content in minutes.

Try Captions today, and say goodbye to annoying copyright strikes.