YouTube responds to Content ID problems

YouTube has responded to users angry about the company’s rather aggressive new copyright detection system.

The internet firm hasn’t apologised, or changed its policies, however. Instead it has suggested users mute background music from games to stop a suspected violation of copyright and use background music from YouTube’s own audio library.

The Content ID system has recently resulted in users’ videos being flagged because the music in games was copyrighted. The result was videos being unable to be monetised – something that understandable annoyed the many users who make their living from the platform.

Note that the publishers who own the rights to the game are mostly not actually claiming violation of copyright. Rather, it is the automated Content ID system at work.

Below is the full email sent out by the firm posted byKotaku:

Hi from YouTube,

You might have heard about, or been impacted by an increase in copyright claims made on videos over the past week. We’re getting in touch to explain what’s happening and how you can get back to creating and monetizing great videos.

What’s happening
Content IDis YouTube’s system for scanning videos for copyrighted content and giving content owners choices on what they want us to do with them. Last week, we expanded the system to scan more channels, including those affiliated with a multi-channel network ("MCN"). As a result, some channels, including many gaming channels, saw claims appear against their videos from audio or video copyright holders.

Understanding Content ID claims
Keep in mind one video may contain multiple copyrighted works, any of which could potentially result in a claim. For example a record label may own music playing in the video (even in the background), a music distributor may own a game’s soundtrack, or a game publisher may own in-game cinematic content.Also, online rights are often resold to companies like music labels and aggregators. While you might not recognize the owner, this doesn’t necessarily mean their claims are invalid.

Deciding what to do
When a claim is made, you’ll see what’s been claimed, who’s claimed it, what type of claim it is (audio or video), and you can play back the part of your video that it matched. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to act on Content ID claims, and you canfind out all your next steps, dispute options, and other troubleshooting resources here.
It’s also important to know that most claims won’t impactyour account standing.

Tips for new videos
If you’re creating videos with content from other people, remember that rights ownership can be complicated and different owners have different policies. Be aware of music. Many games allow you to turn off background music, while leaving sound effects enabled. And if you’re looking for music you can freely use (and monetize!), check out ourAudio Library.

Whether gaming, music or comedy is your passion, know that we love what you do. We’ve worked hard to design Content ID and other tools to give everyone — from individual creators to media companies — the opportunity to make great videos and earn money. As YouTube grows, we want to make sure we’re providing the right product features to ensure that everyone continues to thrive.

Sincerely,

The YouTube team