How to Safeguard Your Videos in the Age of YouTube

The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Copyright

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

One of the trickiest terrains for new YouTubers to navigate is the land of copyright rules.

We get it, it’s confusing and stressful, especially when what you want to focus on is making videos, but instead, you are worried about getting your account terminated or being sued.

Can you or can’t you use that song or that clip from the movie? That’s all you want to know.

In this article, we are going to address the key areas that YouTubers need to understand when it comes to YouTube copyright. What is okay and what isn’t? What may be considered risky or what would be worth taking a chance?

Remember that everything discussed in this article is only best practices and shouldn’t be taken as definitive legal advice.

Now that we are set, let’s dive in:

Part 1: What is Fair Use?

When we talk about YouTube copyright, we have to talk about fair use.

Without fair use, there wouldn’t be any flexibility for creators. There wouldn’t be mashups, parodies, or lip dubs. Without fair use, any video with copyright content such as music in the background or a reference to a scene from a famous movie will require approval from the content owner and can be removed. Because of fair use, you can publish a video with copyrighted material in it and not have to ask anyone.

Think of fair use as exceptions to copyright rules.

Part 2: What YouTube Considers Fair Use

There are a few aspects YouTube looks at when it comes to determining whether creators are using copyrighted content that meets the fair use exceptions.

Is the copyrighted content being creatively or purposefully used?
Are there more original content used than copyrighted content in the video?
Will your video benefit the original copyrighted content?

Part 3: Types of Content That Meet Fair Use

Some acceptable styles of videos that allow you to exercise fair use are:

Critiques and Reviews: You can use clips of a movie that you review or play a chorus from a song that you are analyzing in a video and it will be okay to use because it’s serving a purpose of educating the viewer.

Tutorials and Commentary: A YouTube gamer streaming the video games and making comments throughout, that is within fair use, because it can be said that it is giving the video game exposure. Additionally, anything that can be classified as tutorials can also fall under fair use. If you have a video teaching people how to play a famous song, like The Beatles’ Let It Be , on piano, that’s fine!

Mashups: Mashups tend to be built entirely out of copyrighted material, but when done well this style of videos are very creative and often serve to promote the original work as opposed to replacing it.

There couldn’t be two more different movies than Toy Story and Fight Club, but somehow thanks the the creativity of a YouTube creator, there is a now a mashup of it. Some might call it an abomination, but this type of recycled art takes skills and planning, and it wouldn’t exist without fair use.

Parody: Imitation for comedic or dramatic effect is an artistic pursuit as long as it is done in a transformative manner. What does transformative mean? It means in some way, the original is being examined.

In this example from The Hillywood Show, we see a parody of both BBC’s Sherlock Holmes and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s Thrift Shop. The nuisance of the show and song recreated are there, but nobody who enjoys the originals will sit down and appreciate it in the same way. A parody is in no way trying to replace the original, but rather using the subject, structure, and style of the original as a vessel to another creative work.

Part 4: What To Do When You Get a YouTube Copyright Strike

If you are reading this, you may have already gotten a YouTube copyright strike.

This may have surprised you. Don’t be too concerned. If it was a mistake, the copyright strike merely acts as a warning, letting you know that the content in your video is copyrighted material.

However, if you were to get 3 copyright strikes in 90 days, you may be penalized by:

- Having all your accounts and videos removed

- Not being able to create a new channel

So what should you do? Here are the steps to take after you receive a copyright strike:

Review the copyright strike by going into Creator Studio > Video Manager > Copyright notice

Click on the “Copyright Strike” link beside the flagged video to see details
Decide how to respond to the strike:
1. Allow the strike to expire after 90 days and complete the YouTube’s copyright school
2. Contact the person who reported your video and get the claim retracted
3. Dispute the claim with a counter notification

Part 5: 5 Ways to Avoid Copyright Strike

It’s not always clear what YouTube deems fair use, but there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of meeting the qualification.

1. Use non-fictional copyright content instead of creative and fictional copyrighted content. You’ll have a better chance of meeting fair use if you use footages from a news broadcast than you would from a movie or television show.

The intent is clear when using non-fictional copyright content, such as in Bad Lip Reading. They aren’t trying to rebroadcast the Mark Zuckerberg integration, they are parodying it. The easier it is for the public to recognize that the content is from a source, and understand that the creator isn’t trying to take credit for it, the more likely it’ll pass the fair use qualification.

However, if Bad Lip Reading posted the content without lip dubbing, then one can argue that they are taking views away from the original news sources and that wouldn’t be fair use.

2. Make sure your video with copyrighted content isn’t replacing the original one. Only use enough of the source material to get your point across and ensure you are not negatively affecting the original through views and sales.

In this example from Screen Prism, we see scenes from Wes Anderson movies all through the video, however, it is not replacing any of the original films. In fact, you can say that because of this video, people will be motivated to go and watch a Wes Anderson movie, those benefiting the original creator.

3. The copyrighted material is essential to your video. Whether the copyrighted content is needed in order to illustrate a point or if that one moment from a well-recognized movie helps tie together the message, as long as the copyrighted material is serving the video in some significant way, then it will be consider fair use.

4. Give the original creator credit. Just because you give the original creator credit doesn’t mean you can rightfully use their content, however, it does give you a better chance at avoiding copyright strike. Most often, the original creators simply want credit for their work. If they see that you have noted that the content was made by them, it will only give them more exposure.

5. Keep it short. There is no precise number of seconds or ratio of copyrighted to original footage you should have in your video to qualify as fair use. But generally, if the copyrighted clip is short and/or broken up, then it stands a better chance at being approved by YouTube.

Part 6: What to Do When Other YouTubers Are Copying Your Content

As a new YouTuber, it’s a little freaky to think that someone is taking your content and republishing it or using your creations in their video without your permission.

If you ever notice that your content is being copied without your approval — if they have duplicated your video completely or is using your video without giving credit — and it is not benefiting your channel in any way, don’t worry, YouTube is designed to protect you.

Steps to Report Copyright Infringements on YouTube

View the video that contains your copyrighted material.
Click on “Report”

Select “Infringes my rights” in the pop up window and click “infringes my copyright” in the dropdown options.

Supply additional information to the report form, including the URL of the video infringing your copyrighted content and the URL of your own video.
Submit report and wait for an email confirmation that the infringing content has been removed.

Part 7: YouTube Copyright Match

In 2018, YouTube launched a new feature called Copyright Match Tool, which automatically finds videos that are very similar or the same as the ones you’ve created. This gives you the power to determine what to do once you know the video exist.

- You can choose to do nothing.

- You can contact the publisher.

- You can report the video to YouTube for removal.

Key Takeaways

I hope this article has clarified what you can and cannot do with copyrighted content. Here is a quick summary of what we touched on in this post:

- Avoid having 3 copyright strikes on your channel at all costs.

- When using copyrighted material, ensure it is essential to the video and you are not overdoing it.

- Make sure that the copyrighted content does not take views and sales away from the original source.

- Strive to use the copyrighted content in a transformative way, as a parody or a commentary, to educate or inform.

- Give the original creator credit or have it benefit the original by giving more publicity.

- Report any creator that is infringing on your content.

Got any questions on YouTube copyright? Leave a comment below and we’ll help you answer it.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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Creators have one thing in mind when posting their content online. To be viewed by numerous followers and potential subscribers. For this, you need to run your channels tactfully. There are days when people throng the social media to watch upcoming content and videos. Perhaps you can make your best bets on such days. And is there any best day to post YouTube video?

Probably yes! People will settle on social media sites when they are more relaxed and off heavy duties on the weekdays. Let’s now dive into posting your videos and attaining some good leads.

Why is it important to post your YouTube video on the best days?

You are better off with best days to post on YouTube to increase the chances of getting more views. You want to make the biggest catch, and putting in a little effort will help you yield good results.

1) Your content never dies

The major advantage of posting on best days is that they hit the wall right from the onset of posting. You won’t need a lot of time to invest in expensive equipment. Remember, when viewers see your content immediately, they are posted, there are high chances of them sharing along with friends.

2) You’ll grow your audience worldwide

Growing a worldwide audience is every content creator’s dream. Posting your videos on the best days will open doors to new visitors who perhaps haven’t heard about you. It is even better to include captions so that people of all walks get your message deeply.

3) You’ll appear more on Google searches

Posting at the right time will help Google identify your content and make it appear on Google searches. Google uses an algorithm to check on many concepts of video posting. It means that posting your videos to YouTube on the best days will spike the graph and automatically get noticed by Google.

4) Your audience will promote you

Remember, when viewers go on searches, they look for something important to them. So, coming across your content at the right time will make an instant catch. They only want to fulfill their needs at that specific time. Hence will buy or promote you as long as what you sell is what they are looking for.

5) Increased subscribers

People want to associate themselves with new content. Anyone would be thrilled to hit the button on content that just popped up when they are online at their relaxed moments. You never know; you may just hit that 1,000 subscribers list by posting your videos on the best days.

Best Days to Post on YouTube - General Practices

How then do you know the best day to upload on YouTube? You can use general practices to pinpoint when your viewers are online or when your channel is at its peak.

- Weekday evenings

Weekdays are very busy days for everyone. People feel relaxed and ready to catch up on social media’s trending in the evening. So, posting in the evenings on weekdays may instantly help you get some increased views.

- Target Thursdays and Fridays

Depending on your YouTube content, you can target school-age children these days. If your content is about kid’s stuff and other online learning skills, then pushing it just before the weekend could give you some good visits. Kids tend to have various activities over the weekend and so, the best time for them to embark on online learning is just before the weekend kicks off.

- Weekends

Weekends will suit content that needs to sell products to the middle-class. Since they are busy the whole week with other duties, they probably find time over the weekend to chill and check out what’s happening around them and the world at large.

- End year

When it comes to the best months to post on YouTube, the end-year period tends to be the best. Usually, this is when companies and individuals are winding up on their busy schedules of the year. They want to get improvements and tips to start the next year. It is wise to spend more time online, giving the necessary tips and probably hooking up some potential customers.

Best Days to Post on YouTube - Individual channel

Stop guessing and find the facts right. Hitting on the road at the right time can get you as many viewers as possible. YouTube makes getting the facts right quite easy. Just use YouTube studio to know when your viewers are online.

First, go to YouTube Studio
Check in the “YouTube Studio” > “Analytics” > “Audience” option. Remember that your channel should have enough views for this option to give you relevant data.

Find the hours with the darkest purple bars
You’ll realize that there are dark bars and light ones. The latter represent when few viewers are on your channel. Avoid posting during such times and focus when you have many viewers on site. Also, try to post a few hours before the peak time.

Focus on the days with the darkest bars
Apart from specific times of the day, you can focus on days of the week when your viewers are on your channel. You will mostly realize that the best days of the week to post to your channel are on weekends. It is quite typical as it’s the days when viewers are more relaxed and can find new things online. However, you can monitor your statistics and learn the number of days per week you need to emphasize more on posting your videos.

Post videos a day before the peak day
You can also dwell on the narrative; the early bird catches the worm. You can make an early catch since you know the day when your viewers will throng’ your channel, but you don’t know the time. Post videos a day before your channel goes busy. By this, you won’t leave any viewers outside your new postings.

A few hours before prime time
Another trick is to get your videos posted in good time. Once you have known the best hour of the day when viewers are likely to be active, make your video available a few hours before then. They’ll then get it rolling once they land into the channel for the newest updates. If not, you may miss out on views you would have gotten by making your video go public earlier.

Upload your videos in private a few hours before publishing
Yes, mistakes do happen, and you don’t want to be caught up in the mix of errors. You can increase perfection by uploading your videos for some hours before publishing them. It will give you a good time to check it out privately and iron out any concerns. You don’t want your video going viral with tons of mishaps.

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Conclusion

● You don’t have to guess the best days to upload to YouTube anymore. You can use YouTube algorithm Studio to calculate and give you the exact hours and days when your viewers are at bay. But again, this will only be effective if you have already gathered a substantial number of viewers. It will, therefore, not work for you if you are starting on YouTube. Usually, there isn’t enough data yet for the system to know the best time to publish, and neither know how your content performs in general.

● But all in all, you can use general practices to know when to post your content. Most likely, combine your efforts and don’t dwell on specific hours or days. Use both combined to reach as many audiences as possible.

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Probably yes! People will settle on social media sites when they are more relaxed and off heavy duties on the weekdays. Let’s now dive into posting your videos and attaining some good leads.