YouTube’s copyright policy can be confusing. What should you do if someone has illegally used your video? How about if you’ve gotten a wrongful copyright strike against your account? Read on to find out.
Rotten apples
With YouTube, as with any such enormous community, there are a few rotten apples in the bunch. One such bad apple will sometimes illegally rip (download) videos owned by other parties, then re-upload those videos to his/her own YouTube channel and claim them as their own.
To combat this seedy practice, YouTube instituted a policy that allows its users to file a copyright complaint against other users. If found guilty of copyright infringement, the copyrighted material is removed, and the guilty party receives a copyright strike on his account. And just as you may have guessed, three strikes and you’re out; three copyright strikes result in the termination of your YouTube account. Of course, this can be a very big deal, especially if your YouTube account generates revenue or is a brand page.
The rub
What seems like a great move by YouTube – essentially allowing its users to help police the community – is not without its flaws. Occasionally, these same bad apples can file false copyright claims against videos. Subsequently, users who have done nothing wrong at all can find themselves the victim of one or more copyright strikes. YouTube has a tall task to determine who is telling the truth and who is at fault.
If you find yourself victim to a false copyright complaint, your first step is to file what’s called a counter-notification. This is a legally binding form whereby you fill out several fields and indicate why you think you’re indeed the rightful copyright owner. If the YouTube copyright team believes your story, they’ll release the strike on your account.
That’s great, but what if someone has stolen my video and my copyright strike did not hold up?
Enter video claiming. In essence, a claim (as it’s called by YouTube) allows you to earn any ad revenue that is accrued from your stolen video, allowing you to benefit. However YouTube is selective about who can claim videos and only some companies have the ability to do so; ChiWay Entertainment (along with it’s YouTube properties JukinVideoDotCom, BadAdsFromChris, FailArmy, CutiesNFuzzies, and others) is one such company.
Looking to protect your copyright on YouTube? Get in touch with a ChiWay Entertainment representative today at info@chiwayentertainment.com
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Mike Skogmo is the Director of Communications for ChiWay Entertainment. Find him on Twitter @skogmike
JukinVideo fell one network shy of licensing videos to the holy trinity of TV networks this week. ABC’s World News w/ Diane Sawyer, and NBC’s Today show both featured JukinVideo content, while CBS was the lone network unreached.
In the Today show’s Third Hour, hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb introduced a shocking video of a pack of baboons turned loose in a summer home in South Africa.
The video was recorded by South Africa man Howard Fyvie as he attempted to shoo the mischievous animals out of the house.
In other news…
ABC World News with Diane Sawyer aired a story on May 23, 2013 about the rising incidence of twins being born in America; in the last 30 years, twins have increased a full 75%.
To help illustrate the story, they used a JukinVideo clip featuring two twin baby girls who are playing and fall off of their high chair together.
The segment is a great example of how viral videos can be used as a companion, even if they’re not the focal point of the story.
Additionally, JukinVideo was well represented this week in entertainment media. ESPN’s daily sports commentary show Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable showed this hilarious video of a stunting motorcycle rider who loses control of his bike and watches it crash through a street vendor’s food cart.
JukinVideo also had several clips in the series premiere of the new clip show TruTV’s Top 20 Funniest which had its very successful premiere on May 24, 2013.
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