Clips for Fair Usage?

[Skizzy]

So, I was wondering how you can go about using clips under fair usage.

Can you take any clip but as long as you only use a portion of it and are doing commentary, is that legal or considered fair use?

Or is there something you need to look for to be able to use.

As long as you provide the link to the original video in the description and give them full credit. It seems ok to me. But kinda afraid of copyright bs, and dont want to get striked and taken down.


Thanks

 

[Shakycow]

Do yourself a favor and Google the 'Four Fair Use Requirements'

There is far more to it than only using a portion, adding commentary, or giving credit. In addition, would the commentary be discussing/ critiquing the clip or something else entirely?

Nobody, outside of a judge, can say if something is fair use or not. If you believe something is being used fairly and they issue a copyright claim, you can fight it, but, ultimately, that's a legal battle.

If you're "kinda afraid of copyright bs" there's a very easy solution... use only your own work and the problem is solved.

 

[AM2PM]

Even if you consider it fair use, YouTube's algorithm may flag it. I made a video that mixed Back to the Future with Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure. I used After Effects to cut Bill and Ted out and put them in scenes with Marty and Doc. I used bits of the soundtrack as well. The video was under 2 minutes and fit perfectly within fair use.

Immediately after uploading it there were 2 claims against it. One for a small snippet of the sound track that was by an orchestra and a part of the video itself. I figured it would be hard enough to fight one, let along 2 claims. Like I said, it happened right away. The software did it, not a person. So be careful, and good luck.

 

[subversiveasset]

So, I was wondering how you can go about using clips under fair usage.

Can you take any clip but as long as you only use a portion of it and are doing commentary, is that legal or considered fair use?

There is no bright line safe harbor rule for fair use. So, you can't say, "I only used x seconds, therefore it's fair use."

Fair use can only officially be determined in a court of law. There are four factors that courts look at to assess fair use, but you can't say for *yourself* whether you've transformed enough, etc.,

Or is there something you need to look for to be able to use.

As long as you provide the link to the original video in the description and give them full credit. It seems ok to me. But kinda afraid of copyright bs, and dont want to get striked and taken down.

Thanks

This is a big misconception about copyright. Copyright isn't just about attribution -- it's also about compensation. So, just providing a link to the original video and giving credit does not protect you from the fact that you are not compensating the original copyright holder (through a royalty) for the use of their material. That's why content ID has the option to take the monetization on your video -- because that is the way that the copyright owners get compensated. [That being said, not everything is in content ID, and some copyright owners will block or strike rather than just taking monetization.]