YouTube & Copyright Laws- Part 3

In my previous two blogs about YouTube and copyright laws I explained what copyrighting is, what copyright infringement is, and the consequences of these infringements.  In this blog I will lay out the steps that you can take if you believe that you were wrongfully accused of copyright infringement.  Most of the time it is safe to assume that any work that is not your own original work is copyrighted and should not be used.  However, there are certain circumstances where you can use other’s works.  These circumstances include having the rights or permission to use a work (preferably in writing), if you know that the work is under fair use, or if the copyright has expired.  It is your responsibility to make sure that you are aware of the copyright status of any works you want to use in your videos.

When you use any work that is not your own, the owner of the work may choose to send a copyright infringement notification to YouTube, who then by law, must remove the video.  If you believe that you were wrongfully accused of infringement, there are some steps that you can take to remove your strike and get your video back up.  First, do some homework and make sure that you are not actually in the wrong.  If you are, take the strike, learn from your mistake, and hope that the copyright holder does not pursue the matter any further.  If after your homework you still believe that you were wrongfully accused, gather together all of the evidence to prove it.  This evidence may include an actual written permission form, proof of copyright expiration, proof of fair use, or simply proof that the claimant does not actually own any rights to the work.

Once you have gathered all of your evidence, you can file a counter-notification with YouTube.  What this does is state that you believe that you were wrongfully accused.  YouTube will then forward this on to the party who submitted the copyright infringement notification.  YouTube does not participate any further any the matter.  From here on out, it is all between you, the other party, and any lawyers that may be brought in.  If all of your evidence holds true, then the other party may retract their infringement notification and your video can be put back up on YouTube.  

There are times when a mistake might be made with copyright infringement notifications.  If you have proof that you have rights to use the copyrighted content, then it is ok to dispute the original notification.  If you do not have any of the above mentioned articles of proof, it is better to accept that you video was moved and simply wait for your strike to expire.  Now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it once more, the best way to handle copyright infringement is to simply avoid it by using your own work.  Now, go out there and start filming!