So the actual answer is a little more nuanced. Here are the different types of copyright-related things your videos can receive:
Copyright Claim
Copyright claims have a monetization component and a viewing restriction component. Listed below are the monetization ones.
- Monetized by claimant: The most common type of copyright claim. It disables monetization for you and enables it for the claimant.
- Sharing revenue from ads: This is my favorite one. The claimant still puts ads on your video, but if you select the option that states it is a cover you performed, you split the ad revenue 50/50.
- Tracked by copyright owner: This just disables monetization and lets the copyright owner see how well your video is performing.
Below are the viewing restriction types.
- None: This type imposes no viewing restrictions. Most copyright claims have this setting in my experience.
- Unavailable on some devices: There are some devices the video will be blocked on, such as mobile devices. The type is specified by the claimant.
- Blocked in some countries: The video will be blocked in the countries specified by the claimant. It can be as little as 1 (usually Germany) or go so far as only allowing it in 1 country.
- Blocked worldwide: The video can't be played except by your account. There may be a penalty to your account if you receive 2 of these claims in a short period of time, but I'm not sure.
You can receive copyright claims by 2 methods: Content-ID or manually. If it is via Content-ID, it means the copyright owner placed their own content in the system and it matched with content in your video and the claim was automatically applied. If it was manually, someone working for the copyright owner saw your video and put it on there themselves. The copyright owner must still have access to Content-ID in order to place a claim manually.
In order to remove a copyright claim, you have to dispute it. Once disputed, the claimant has 30 days to respond to the dispute. They can respond by either releasing the claim, rejecting the dispute/reinstating the claim, or taking down the video. If they take down your video, you receive a copyright strike. While it is waiting for them to respond, any viewing restrictions are lifted, the video is able to be monetized again, and any ad revenue earned is placed in a holding account and will be given to the party who wins the dispute. If they do not respond within 30 days, the claim is released automatically.
If they reject the dispute and thereby reinstate the claim, you have the option to appeal it. If you appeal it, the claimant again has 30 days to respond to it. The viewing restrictions and monetization holding account thing happen again. This time, their options are to release the claim, take down the video, or set a delayed takedown. If they choose the delayed one, it notifies you that you have 7 days to cancel your appeal or your video will be automatically taken down. If you cancel an appeal, you cannot dispute or appeal the copyright claim on that video again.
Copyright Strike
Copyright strikes are the result of one of your videos being taken down by a claimant filing a DMCA takedown notification, which is a legal request that YouTube must comply with. Strikes last 3 months and may cause other penalties, such as disabling monetization on your whole channel. If you have 3 strikes at any one time, your channel will be taken down until you can get the strikes removed and be at 2 or less. Once your channel is taken down, the strikes won't expire on their own. In my experience, 99% of copyright strikes come from disputing copyright claims and then appealing it when they reject the dispute. I've had a few videos taken down without receiving a claim first, though. These came from copyright owners who didn't have access to Content-ID and a DMCA takedown notification was their only method of defending against what they saw as an infringement on their rights. These copyright strikes came immediately and without warning. One minute everything was fine, the next my video was down and I had a copyright strike.
There are 3 ways that copyright strikes go away.
- Wait for it to expire: A strike will expire after 3 months, provided you don't receive any more strikes during that time. The video in question will still remain down, however.
- Request a retraction: YouTube provides you with a method of contacting the claimant and you can try to convince them to retract the DMCA takedown notification. If they do, the strike is removed and the video is restored.
- File a counter notification: The DMCA provides the defending party a way of responding to the takedown notification. If you file a counter notification, YouTube will review it and forward it on to the claimant. They will then have 10 business days in order to respond by showing proof of a court order to keep the video down or proof that they initiated a lawsuit against you. They may also try to convince YouTube that your counter notification was invalid. If they do not respond with sufficient proof within the time limit, your video will be reinstated back to how it was like nothing happened and your strike will be removed.
