Your copyright rights on YouTube

Your copyright rights on YouTube

Copyright is a legal term that describes the rights granted to creators over their literary and artistic works. Each time someone records a video, composes a song, designs software, or creates a choreography, they automatically become the copyright holder of that creation. What matters is the originality of the work and the fact that it has been fixed in a tangible medium.

This has a direct consequence: appearing in a video does not make you the owner of that video. If a friend films you at a party and uploads it to their channel, the copyright belongs to them as the author of the recording, unless a contract states otherwise. This distinction helps avoid confusion and clearly establishes who controls the content.

How copyright works on YouTube

To strengthen this protection, YouTube has developed a system called Content ID, an automated guardian that scans millions of videos and compares them against databases of protected material. If it detects that a video includes registered music, images, or film clips, it notifies the rights holder. From there, the owner can decide whether to block the video, monetize it in their favor, or allow it under certain conditions.

However, not all uses of protected material count as infringement. There is what is known as fair use, an exception that, in some countries, allows the use of excerpts of works for educational, critical, informational, or parody purposes.

In short, copyright on YouTube is a balance between creative freedom and respect for intellectual property. The creator retains control over their work, but the community can rely on certain exceptions as long as they remain within the boundaries set by law.

How to obtain copyright on YouTube

Copyright comes into existence the moment a work is created. Recording a video, writing a song, or taking a photograph is enough for the creator to automatically hold the rights to that work. Registration is not required for copyright to exist; however, registering with an intellectual property office works like keeping a receipt: in case of dispute, it serves as solid evidence of authorship.

On YouTube, this protection becomes especially important. The platform is full of videos that combine images, music, and third-party fragments, which creates infringement risks. To keep your content safe, the best approach is to rely on originality: record and produce your own works without using third-party material without permission. If you want to add music or external images to your videos, the correct way is to obtain licenses, either through paid libraries or free collections that expressly authorize their use.

Additionally, YouTube offers its own protection system: the Content ID program. It is not available to everyone, but if you meet the requirements, it allows you to automatically monitor copies of your content uploaded by others. You can then decide whether to block them, monetize them, or allow their distribution under your own conditions.

It is worth remembering that even a video you have recorded yourself can cause problems if it includes third-party elements: a song playing in the background at a concert, a fragment of a TV series, the broadcast of a sporting event, or the performance of a play. In all these cases, the rights belong to others, and you need their authorization to use them.

Reporting a copyright infringement

When a creator discovers that someone has used their content on YouTube without permission, the platform provides a formal procedure to claim copyright protection and have the unauthorized material removed.

The first step is to file a copyright claim. YouTube offers an official form to streamline the process. Only rights holders or their authorized representatives can use it never third parties without legal standing.

If YouTube verifies that the request is valid, the identified content is removed from the platform. At the same time, the channel that uploaded it receives a copyright strike, a warning that works like a penalty system. Three strikes within a 90-day period result in the permanent suspension of the channel and the removal of all its videos.

Ultimately, copyright on YouTube should not be seen as a wall that limits creativity, but rather as a tool that guarantees protection for those who produce original content.

At Letslaw, as a law firm specialized in digital law and intellectual property, we support creators and businesses in this complex field, offering solutions to protect their works, avoid unintentional infringements, and manage copyright disputes in the digital environment.