Hey guys - putting together this tutorial because it seems there's a lot of confusion about how music licensing works. Hope this clarifies some stuff.
The Fully Legal
YouTube's requirements for anything you include in your videos is that you must either:
A. Own the content, or
B. Be able to provide written consent of your right to use the content
Now, it's important to note that this rule applies
whether your videos are monetized or not.
So the safest choice is either to use your own music, or use music your friend can license to you (be sure to get it in writing)
Now, if you're not monetizing the video, you're looking for
royalty-free music. But keep this in mind:
royalty-free is just a term people use - it doesn't necessarily mean anything about what you're licensed to do with the music.
What you want from a technical perspective is a "synchronization license". Usually the sites that advertise these charge a fair bit, so we'll save that until we're talking about monetized videos.
Unfortunately, many of the companies that provide royalty-free music don't do the best job of documenting their licenses, so you'll have to use your best judgement. Here are a few guidelines:
Can (probably) use:
- "licensed for YouTube"
- Licensed under Creative-Commons (with attribution)
- Copyleft, or under another free license (MIT, BSD, WTFYW)
- Music that came with your editing software is almost always licensed for any purpose
Can't (probably) use:
- "personal use"
- not licensed "to distribute"
- limits on the number of copies
Now,
if you are monetizing, then you do specifically need a commercial synchronization license. High-end music licensing companies will know what this is and will list it. If they mention anywhere in their legalese that it's "licensed for YouTube", you can go with that as well (it's defensible, and you could fight a copyright claim if it ever came)
Unfortunately, a lot of "royalty-free" music companies do a terrible job of documenting the licenses. So you have to use your best judgment, or contact them directly (save the email in case you ever need to appeal a copyright claim). I can wholeheartedly recommend SmartSound, but it's ridiculously expensive.
The Practical
When a company holds a license, and YouTube detects that you've used it, they have three options. They can:
- Do nothing
- Monetize your video for themselves
- Flag you for copyright and throw you at the mercy of the Google gods
There are high-up YouTubers that violate copyright from time-to-time (Meekakitty comes to mind). But keep in mind that the ability to appeal with Google (or at least plead for a lesser sentence) is going to depend heavily on how much revenue you've been generating for YouTube. YouTube isn't going to take Meekakitty down, but you can bet they'd take down someone who's bringing in very little.
So ultimately, it's up to you to be practical about what you use. Here are a few tips:
- Keep documentation forever! Be sure that if for whatever reason, you get flagged, you've got a copy of the purchase / license / email /whatever, to prove you're in the right.
- READ THE LICENSE! "Royalty-free" is just a buzzword. Licenses aren't fun to read, but they are at least, English.
- Be cautious - if you want to risk using something in the hopes they'll just monetize your stuff, go for it, but be aware a company can change its policy at any time.
- Find musicians! This forum is full of 'em! Paypal 'em five bucks, and save yourself the worry
Hope this helps, everybody!
