When it comes to copyright, YouTube is something of a wasteland. It’s a sort of Mad Max scenario, where a bunch of villains run the scene, appealing to a higher authority that doesn’t care and rules in favor of the villains more often than not.
The problem many people encounter is that there are a ton of copyright trolls out there who file claims against videos they don’t even own, with just enough legitimate information for YouTube to pass it along, hoping the content producer doesn’t fight it. And, indeed, a lot of content producers don’t fight them, because it’s a full time job, it’s stressful, and the ever-decreasing YouTube money isn’t worth it.
First, though, we need to discuss one common error people make.
Content ID Versus Copyright Strikes
There are three kinds of flags that can show up on your YouTube account. The first are the Community Guidelines Strikes, which involve violations of the YouTube terms of service and community guidelines. Generally, these involve things like posting pornography, violent or graphic content that isn’t fake, and so on. I’m not going to discuss these today, because they’re a different ordeal and aren’t commonly a problem unless you’re doing something you really shouldn’t be.

The second kind of flag is the Content ID claim. Content ID is YouTube’s algorithmic system that scans every video uploaded and attempts to identify any copyrighted material in it. YouTube alone doesn’t take action, but companies can issue claims against anything Content ID identifies as theirs.
In some cases, this is a common action. For example, Nintendo has a few of the old Super Mario World songs flagged, so if you upload something that includes the Athletics theme, your video will pretty definitely have a Content ID claim levied against it. This is a legitimate claim from Nintendo, most of the time.

Now, you can fight these claims on the grounds of fair use. For example, someone playing that Athletics theme on piano isn’t violating copyright with their performance of an arrangement, but if their version matches too closely, Nintendo will flag it. It takes time and effort to fight it, though, so a lot of the time, content creators won’t bother.
This is because a Content ID claim doesn’t hurt your channel, at least, not really. A content ID claim simply lets the copyright holder know that this content exists, and lets that copyright holder decide what to do. There are five possible actions an owner can take:
Nothing. Plenty of Content ID claims result in no change at all.
Advertising. One of the most common outcomes, the copyright owner lets the video stay, but monetizes it for themselves. Any ad revenue from that video goes to the copyright holder, not to the content producer. In very rare cases, the copyright owner can share revenue with you.
Muting. The copyright owner can decide they don’t want their content on your video, and can mute that section of the video. You will have to replace the audio with something else if you want the video to have sound.
Limited blocking. The copyright owner can choose to block the video on certain platforms, such as “viewable only on YouTube.com” or “viewable only on desktop devices.” This is a strange option and almost no one takes it.
Unlimited blocking. This essentially hides your video, either from certain countries or worldwide.
All of this is perfectly reasonable. The problem comes from #2 up there. See, Content ID has millions of videos to process, and there’s very little human oversight for the whole endeavor. This means the YouTube equivalent of patent trolls can file false Content ID claims with just enough information to make them look legit, and they always take the second option. They essentially make their livings by monetizing thousands upon thousands of videos they have no legitimate claim to, relying on the weary content producer to not fight back.
One thing you’ll notice about all of this: I haven’t mentioned YouTube’s “three strikes” policy for copyright violations. This is because a Content ID claim is not a copyright violation.

A Copyright Violation and the associated strike is much worse than a Content ID claim. It means a legitimate, verified copyright holder – not a copyright troll, usually – has noticed your video specifically and decided to take it down. They have to complete a request and send it to YouTube. The request requires the copyright holder to provide their contact information, a description of their work, the URL of your video, and a legal agreement that they believe there is legitimate copyright infringement. It then has to pass YouTube’s filters and they have to agree. It’s essentially a DMCA.
Copyright strikes are much less common and much more dangerous to a YouTube account, because once you have three active strikes, that’s it. YouTube deletes your account then and there. Even getting one strike can jeopardize your ability to monetize, live stream, or create new channels.
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