Youtube Copyright Claim: Everything You Need to Know

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How many of you have ever gotten a copyright claim on your YouTube video? Did you even know that this happens, and what does it mean if it does?

Do you know what to do if one of your videos gets flagged for copyright infringement, or even how to prevent this from happening in the first place?

If you have found yourself asking these questions in recent months, then there’s a good chance that this article will be helpful to you!

We’ll discuss copyright claims, how they affect your channel, how they can be avoided, and much more!

Let’s get started

Table of Contents

What Are Youtube Copyright Claim?

If you’re a creator on YouTube, the chances are that you’ve heard about copyright claims.

These claims aren’t all bad; some people use them as an excuse to take down other creators’ videos.

However, it is essential to know precisely what they are and how they affect your video.

While there is no way of knowing if a claim will be issued until after you upload your video, there are ways of protecting yourself against it happening in the first place.

You can also do something once a claim has been made against your video to appeal it and fight for its rights.

In today’s post, we’ll review everything you need to know about copyright claims so that you’re never left in the dark again!

How Do Youtube Copyright Claim Affect Your Channel?

Most importantly, a copyright claim has no direct effect on your channel.

It doesn’t result in any strike against your account, nor will it remove any videos from your account or impact how you can manage them.

A copyright claim does mean that you’ll see an alert about a potential copyright violation for a video you uploaded in your channel’s Recently Uploaded tab; however:

Channel owners will see an alert on their Channels Overview page. While Non-Channel owners will see an alert when visiting a video owned by someone else.

There are two primary ways a copyright claim can impact your channel.

First, they can result in a content strike against your account, which will prevent you from live streaming or using paid features such as Super Chat and Channel Memberships for days.

Secondly, you risk being terminated from YouTube altogether if you receive multiple strikes within three months (and do not dispute them).

Copyright Claim and a Copyright Strike

Any time someone uploads a video with copyrighted music, video, or audio (or a combination of both), that person runs the risk of receiving a copyright claim or strike.

In some cases, you can dispute these claims and get them retracted.

In other cases, it may be impossible to have them retracted once they’ve been issued.

Let’s answer most of the questions people ask about like; How many strikes do you get?

The answer to this question is three strikes. Therefore, three (3) copyright strikes within one calendar year will result in account termination.

Another question is When I should worry about copyright claims?

If your account is new or you haven’t received many views on your videos, you likely won’t need to worry about being hit with a claim for another few months.

Now let’s look at what you should do if you get a copyright claim or strike.

What Should You Do if My Video Gets a Claim?

If your video gets a copyright claim, it doesn’t necessarily mean you did anything wrong.

However, if your video infringes on someone else’s intellectual property (i.e., they own that song, movie, or image) and you’re not planning on removing it, then leave that content up and fill out a counter-notification with YouTube.

A successful claim will result in some penalty from YouTube; you may lose access to certain features for a short period or temporarily shut your entire channel down.

Here Is What You Need to Do if Your Video Gets a Claim

1. View your video on YouTube and look for a yellow banner in your video player that says This video has been claimed by such a channel or company.

Below that, you’ll see a link that says Dispute. Click it. This will take you to a page where you can read more about why your video was claimed and what your options are.

If you decide to dispute, click Submit Dispute at the bottom of that page and continue with the next step.

2. Fill out all required information (name, email address, etc.) and select one or both of these boxes:

I have read and understand YouTube’s copyright policy;
I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that use of the material in my video is not authorized by the copyright owner (or their agent) or its licensee.

Then click Continue to Submission Form.

3. Check your email inbox for an automated message from YouTube containing a case number and password.

Once you have those, log back into your account and go to My Videos >Video Manager [select video], [select] Edit Info & Settings.

4. On the Basic Info tab, scroll down until you find Additional Information, then fill out everything except Agent Contact Details.

5. Scroll down again until you find Legal Issues, then enter any relevant info (such as links to images or videos showing proof of ownership).

6. Finally, click Save Changes at the bottom of your screen.

Conclusion

If you don’t have a copyright claim, you do not need to worry about anything. However, if your video does get a copyright claim or strike, there are several things you can do.

Firstly is informing Google that your video is protected by Fair Use and thus constitutes non-infringing content on YouTube.

Secondly is asking for help from other users on other social platforms.

Lastly is appealing directly through your videos manager area and writing in support of yourself.