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Hello everyone,
I recently noticed that there was some discussion about copyright and fair use and although im no real expert i wanted to share my "knowledge"(That word makes me feel smart ) with you guys.
1. First of all, what is copyright?
Probably the easiest question but ill answer it to be sure!
Copyright is a protection for the creator, so his work doesnt get copied by other people! on youtube this may sound a little bit weird because when you post something on youtube you share it and it is not yours anymore right..? Like charity right??? NO! Wrong, of course you are sharing your content to the rest of the world but that doesnt mean that the creator of that content isnt the owner anymore! as i said, he can still do with it whatever he wants. so if you post something you took from someone else his video it still ISNT yours! it may seem so because its uploaded on your channel but its still "infected" with copyright because you are not the rightfull owner!
this is what youtube says about copyright:
When a person creates an original work that is fixed in a physical medium, he or she automatically owns copyright to the work. Copyright ownership gives the owner the exclusive right to use the work in certain, specific ways. Many types of works are eligible for copyright protection, including:
But this doesnt only affect games! it affects songs, pictures and i even heard of a case where a poem (!!) was copyrighted!
2. My content is copyrighted... so what?
Well your content is copyrighted and you dont have any claims or content ID`s yet? well that isnt a problem.... yet. in my opinion using copyrighted content is actually a ticking and LIVE timebomb because in the end it will always come up. the chances of being caught are very slim for a small channel and even if you are caught there arent always direct consequences for using it! because very often the owner will just put a content ID claim on it and thats it! but let me explain to you guys what exactly content ID is:
Content id is a system youtube uses to find content that is copyrighted and claimed by someone. youtube doesnt use this itself but lets different companies use it. so for example if i am a songwriter and i want to be sure that my content isnt used "illegaly" i can hire a company what uses the content id system and they will track it for me. but enough about that! what happens if someone Content IDs one of my videos?
Well a veriety of stuff can happen:
1. they can track it, so they know if it is watched and by how many people
2. they can monitize it, they place an advertizement in front of the video (without your permission, because they are the owner after all) and earn money from it (you will earn nothing)
3. they can take it down and you get a copyright strike
if you are lucky they will only apply the first option, and even if they apply the second one it isnt that bad after all! "let them earn money from my video, i dont mind" is what a lot of people think, BUT the biggest problem is, the owner can change this policy whenever he wants without any reason! and yes, this happens! what happens in a lot of cases is that companies earn money from your video at the start but when the video is a few months old and revenue is starting to drop they take it down, and give you a strike! (luckily no experience in that but i heard a lot of people about it on yttalk.com) and remember, 3 strikes and you are banned for LIFE!
3. My video has a content ID on it D:, what can i do?
Well if this happens you can choose between a couple of choices:
1. the first one (the safest in my opinion, but the most annoying) you can take the video down, the content ID dissapears and you cant get a strike from it anymore! problem solved ... but the video is gone
2. you can "acknowledge" that you are using someone else his content and in that case 1 of the 3 things described above will happen (remember they can change that whenever the owner wants)
3. If you feel that the id claim isnt fair or the content you are using falls under the law of fair use (more about that later) you can dispute it! this is your way of telling youtube that you disagree with the claim. you have to give solid reasons and when you dispute it the claim will be dropped IMMEDIATLY. so thats cool right? well not exactly... because the company will get a message of your dispute and they can disagree with that as well (note that youtube still hasnt looked into any of this yet, they wont interfere). if the company decides that you are right the claim will stay down and thats it. but if the company disagrees with your dispute as well the claim is back up immediatly. if this is the case the company will take the video down in most of the cases and give you a copyright strike! what most people find unfair about this system is that IN THEORY i can make a fake proof that i own one of your videos, give you a strike and let it be taken down, yes thats right, I can do that (mwouhahahaha). of course this isnt fair and in a reaction to that YOU can claim that your dispute was denied unrightfully, and this is where youtube comes in. they will look in all the evidence and decide whoever is right (of course in the case i discribed above you will win because i faked my evidence) but until youtube has decided who is right you will still have that annoying strike on your account, so watch out with that!
So fair use, whats that?
Youtubes HQ is stationed in the USA and therefore they have to obey to US law and therefore you have to as well, that sounds weird right? well its true!
one of the US laws goes about fair use, its ment for content creators to be able to use other peoples content without infringing their copyrights! a example of fair use is showing a picture for 3 seconds to make my point more clear in a tutorial video. I use some else his content but its very short / small i wont be breaking copyright laws! BUT there are some rules:
the official law sounds:
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
Bla bla bla i know, but what this means is that you can use other peoples content at a certain rate! as long as you follow those 4 rules!
but let me warn you: This law isnt solid AT ALL, its used very diffrently by a lot of people and only a real judge can decide if it really is fair use! and you dont want go that far to use anyone elses content right? and the rightfull owner knows that unfortunatly... so if you dispute a video with the reason "fair use" you have a big chance of losing that dispute and harming your channel!
How can i counter Content ID and strikes?
well the most easy and straigtforward thing to do is... dont use any copyrighted content , be creative and build a vlog and well all life happy after .........
Well if i get a subscriber everytime i read that advice i would have more subscribers then Pewdiepie and the complete yogscast team alltogether! and the worst part is, if you have a gaming channel like me there is zero chance that you are not going to use copyrighted material! so let me give some usefull tips instead!
There are companies out there that allow you to make videos of their content as long as you ask them nicely! if you have their permission to use their content there wont be any problems at all! Just keep in mind that you have to ask permission to use their content AS WELL as ask if you can use ingame cutscenes and music as well! if you have permission to use their content that doesnt mean that you can monitize it as well! ask that as well! and if you have all those permissions, save them somewhere so you have proof ready if you need it!
an other solution is to play games that already allow you to upload them (minecraft is a very popular) and sometimes even monitize them. often you can find it somewhere on their FAQ or on the forums. www. markeedragon. net/ can help you with finding out if you are allowed or not!
That was all the information i have on copyright and content ID, if you feel i missed something please message me or post it below
I hope this was helpfull! i know this was all fairly basic but when i started youtubing i didnt know all this and to be honest i missed a clear explanation, so i hope this can help!
and before i go, my last tip: If you use something that isnt yours.. its probably copyrighted! and believe me, its not worth the risk... dont rely on fair use! just to be save
Greetings,
Pskovanion
I recently noticed that there was some discussion about copyright and fair use and although im no real expert i wanted to share my "knowledge"(That word makes me feel smart ) with you guys.
1. First of all, what is copyright?
Probably the easiest question but ill answer it to be sure!
Copyright is a protection for the creator, so his work doesnt get copied by other people! on youtube this may sound a little bit weird because when you post something on youtube you share it and it is not yours anymore right..? Like charity right??? NO! Wrong, of course you are sharing your content to the rest of the world but that doesnt mean that the creator of that content isnt the owner anymore! as i said, he can still do with it whatever he wants. so if you post something you took from someone else his video it still ISNT yours! it may seem so because its uploaded on your channel but its still "infected" with copyright because you are not the rightfull owner!
this is what youtube says about copyright:
When a person creates an original work that is fixed in a physical medium, he or she automatically owns copyright to the work. Copyright ownership gives the owner the exclusive right to use the work in certain, specific ways. Many types of works are eligible for copyright protection, including:
- Audiovisual works, such as TV shows, movies, and online videos
- Sound recordings and musical compositions
- Written works, such as lectures, articles, books, and musical compositions
- Visual works, such as paintings, posters, and advertisements
- Video games and computer software
- Dramatic works, such as plays and musicals
But this doesnt only affect games! it affects songs, pictures and i even heard of a case where a poem (!!) was copyrighted!
2. My content is copyrighted... so what?
Well your content is copyrighted and you dont have any claims or content ID`s yet? well that isnt a problem.... yet. in my opinion using copyrighted content is actually a ticking and LIVE timebomb because in the end it will always come up. the chances of being caught are very slim for a small channel and even if you are caught there arent always direct consequences for using it! because very often the owner will just put a content ID claim on it and thats it! but let me explain to you guys what exactly content ID is:
Content id is a system youtube uses to find content that is copyrighted and claimed by someone. youtube doesnt use this itself but lets different companies use it. so for example if i am a songwriter and i want to be sure that my content isnt used "illegaly" i can hire a company what uses the content id system and they will track it for me. but enough about that! what happens if someone Content IDs one of my videos?
Well a veriety of stuff can happen:
1. they can track it, so they know if it is watched and by how many people
2. they can monitize it, they place an advertizement in front of the video (without your permission, because they are the owner after all) and earn money from it (you will earn nothing)
3. they can take it down and you get a copyright strike
if you are lucky they will only apply the first option, and even if they apply the second one it isnt that bad after all! "let them earn money from my video, i dont mind" is what a lot of people think, BUT the biggest problem is, the owner can change this policy whenever he wants without any reason! and yes, this happens! what happens in a lot of cases is that companies earn money from your video at the start but when the video is a few months old and revenue is starting to drop they take it down, and give you a strike! (luckily no experience in that but i heard a lot of people about it on yttalk.com) and remember, 3 strikes and you are banned for LIFE!
3. My video has a content ID on it D:, what can i do?
Well if this happens you can choose between a couple of choices:
1. the first one (the safest in my opinion, but the most annoying) you can take the video down, the content ID dissapears and you cant get a strike from it anymore! problem solved ... but the video is gone
2. you can "acknowledge" that you are using someone else his content and in that case 1 of the 3 things described above will happen (remember they can change that whenever the owner wants)
3. If you feel that the id claim isnt fair or the content you are using falls under the law of fair use (more about that later) you can dispute it! this is your way of telling youtube that you disagree with the claim. you have to give solid reasons and when you dispute it the claim will be dropped IMMEDIATLY. so thats cool right? well not exactly... because the company will get a message of your dispute and they can disagree with that as well (note that youtube still hasnt looked into any of this yet, they wont interfere). if the company decides that you are right the claim will stay down and thats it. but if the company disagrees with your dispute as well the claim is back up immediatly. if this is the case the company will take the video down in most of the cases and give you a copyright strike! what most people find unfair about this system is that IN THEORY i can make a fake proof that i own one of your videos, give you a strike and let it be taken down, yes thats right, I can do that (mwouhahahaha). of course this isnt fair and in a reaction to that YOU can claim that your dispute was denied unrightfully, and this is where youtube comes in. they will look in all the evidence and decide whoever is right (of course in the case i discribed above you will win because i faked my evidence) but until youtube has decided who is right you will still have that annoying strike on your account, so watch out with that!
So fair use, whats that?
Youtubes HQ is stationed in the USA and therefore they have to obey to US law and therefore you have to as well, that sounds weird right? well its true!
one of the US laws goes about fair use, its ment for content creators to be able to use other peoples content without infringing their copyrights! a example of fair use is showing a picture for 3 seconds to make my point more clear in a tutorial video. I use some else his content but its very short / small i wont be breaking copyright laws! BUT there are some rules:
the official law sounds:
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
Bla bla bla i know, but what this means is that you can use other peoples content at a certain rate! as long as you follow those 4 rules!
but let me warn you: This law isnt solid AT ALL, its used very diffrently by a lot of people and only a real judge can decide if it really is fair use! and you dont want go that far to use anyone elses content right? and the rightfull owner knows that unfortunatly... so if you dispute a video with the reason "fair use" you have a big chance of losing that dispute and harming your channel!
How can i counter Content ID and strikes?
well the most easy and straigtforward thing to do is... dont use any copyrighted content , be creative and build a vlog and well all life happy after .........
Well if i get a subscriber everytime i read that advice i would have more subscribers then Pewdiepie and the complete yogscast team alltogether! and the worst part is, if you have a gaming channel like me there is zero chance that you are not going to use copyrighted material! so let me give some usefull tips instead!
There are companies out there that allow you to make videos of their content as long as you ask them nicely! if you have their permission to use their content there wont be any problems at all! Just keep in mind that you have to ask permission to use their content AS WELL as ask if you can use ingame cutscenes and music as well! if you have permission to use their content that doesnt mean that you can monitize it as well! ask that as well! and if you have all those permissions, save them somewhere so you have proof ready if you need it!
an other solution is to play games that already allow you to upload them (minecraft is a very popular) and sometimes even monitize them. often you can find it somewhere on their FAQ or on the forums. www. markeedragon. net/ can help you with finding out if you are allowed or not!
That was all the information i have on copyright and content ID, if you feel i missed something please message me or post it below
I hope this was helpfull! i know this was all fairly basic but when i started youtubing i didnt know all this and to be honest i missed a clear explanation, so i hope this can help!
and before i go, my last tip: If you use something that isnt yours.. its probably copyrighted! and believe me, its not worth the risk... dont rely on fair use! just to be save
Greetings,
Pskovanion
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