Preliminary information
Before delving into the heart of this guide and actually seeing how copyright works on YouTube, it seems only right to provide you with some preliminary information that will certainly be useful for you to better understand what is written in the next chapters.
First of all, I want to tell you that there are several works on YouTube that can be protected by copyright, such as TV shows, films, audio recordings and musical compositions, written works (e.g. articles, books, articles), video games and plays.
You can use copyrighted material on YouTube asking for its authorization to the owner of the work or by resorting to the practice of fair use. In the latter case, it is not necessary to obtain the authorization from the author of the work to use it (although obviously certain conditions must be respected, as indicated here), but it will be a judge to determine if there is a violation of copyright or not, if the author himself takes legal action against the user of his work.
When using copyrighted material, be aware that it is not enough to mention the name of the original author of the work in order to use it. Furthermore, on YouTube, it is possible to incur copyright infringement by using copyrighted material even in non-profit videos.
You can learn more about all the aspects related to the functioning of copyright on YouTube by consulting this page in the help center of the platform.
How to avoid copyright on YouTube
avoid infringing copyright on YouTube, you must understand if a song or other content you intend to use in your video violates copyright, so as to avoid the possible removal of the same from the platform or, in case of repeated violations, even the closure of the channel. How can you do it? First of all by using the integrated system on YouTube that allows you to discover the rights of use of music tracks.
To proceed, connected to the YouTube site, log in to your Google account, click on yours profile picture located at the top right and select the item YouTube Studio from the menu that opens. In the left sidebar, select the items Other functions> Audio library and click the link Check the copyright rules located at the top. To get information about the use of a certain song, write its title in the field Search for music and click the magnifying lens.
Now, locate the song you are interested in and click on the symbol (⌵) to view the characteristics of use. Under the heading If you use this song you can get information about the terms of use of the song in the videos, while under the heading If you play a cover you can find information about the possible reinterpretation of the piece within a video. Also note that if next to the option Advertising the wording is present Ads may appear, the song author can monetize your video.
If the search did not produce results and the writing appeared No matches found, evidently the owner of the copyright of the song has not requested the monetization of the content and, therefore, you can use it within a video and monetize it without incurring any copyright infringement. In the event that the author of the song changes its rules of use, however, you may have problems regarding the video in which this is present.
If, on the other hand, you should see the wording This song cannot be used in your YouTube videos. If you use this song, your video may be blocked and the audio may be muted, it is better not to use the track found. For more information on how to put music on YouTube without infringing copyright, please also consult the in-depth study that I linked to you.
As regards, instead, i video, you just need to search on Google with the title of the movie or consult the information on the YouTube page that hosts it (if it is already on YouTube) to trace the company that created the content and receive information on copyright. If you don't find clear information, try contacting the author and asking for details.
If, on the other hand, you want to use a 'image in a video (or use it as a thumbnail of the same), you can find out if it is copyrighted by using the Google Images reverse search, while you can download freely reusable images on sites used for this purpose, such as Pexels. More information on this can be found in my tutorial on how to tell if an image is copyrighted.
Finally, regarding the textual works, I advise you to consult the copyright information present almost certainly on the site hosting the content or, alternatively, by searching on Google with the title of the work.
How to use copyrighted songs on YouTube
If you plan to include copyrighted material in one or more videos, you will first need to seek permission from the author who owns the rights. As we read on this page of the Google product help center, in fact, "YouTube cannot grant you these rights and is not even able to help creators find and contact the parties who can grant them".
This means that, if you intend to use copyrighted material in one of your videos, you would do well to contact the author who owns the rights to the content in question and enter into an agreement in which you are authorized to use the material in question.
As YouTube itself suggests on the assistance page that I linked to you just now, it is advisable to contact a lawyer who has the necessary skills to make the right proposals to the authors of the content you intend to use in your videos: if you follow this advice , the agreement that you will eventually find with the latter will have legal value and you will avoid running into problems of any kind.
How to copyright YouTube
It is your intention copyright on YouTube, perhaps because you have identified a content for which you hold the copyright, know that you can report any violations using a specific form. The procedure I am about to describe to you can be carried out both from mobile and from computer, using the Web version of the service.
To proceed, go to this YouTube page, click on the button I'm not a robot (if you are asked to do the security check), select the option Copyright infringement and then put the check mark on one of the options in the box Copyright Infringement - Who Affected?: you can choose between I!, if the violation was done to your detriment or My company, my organization or my client, if the violation was done to the detriment of your company, organization or customer. By selecting the option Another copyright owner, you will be informed that if the violation affects a third party, the latter must send the report.
Now, provide theVideo url that is affected by the violation, describe the work that you believe has been the subject of a violation by selecting one of the options in the menu Select one voice, and fill in the text fields in the box Videos to remove (if there are more contents to report, click on the button (+) Add another video and repeat the steps I showed you a moment ago).
Now, fill out the form Tell us about yourself providing the data concerning you (eg. name, mailing address, phone, fax, etc.), tick the boxes inside the box at the bottom to confirm that you are reporting in good faith and that you are actually the owner of the copyrighted material and, finally, put the your digital signature by providing yours name e last name in the appropriate text field.
To submit the report, click on the blue button Submit a complaint located in the lower left corner of the page and that's it. Now all you have to do is wait for the response from the YouTube team who, in case of actual copyright infringement, will be ready to remove the content you have reported.
How copyright works on YouTube
