Nobody Agrees on What Counts as Fair Use for Music
Content creators are struggling with the complexities of copyright law when using copyrighted material (music, clips) in their videos. They seek clarity on safe usage, licensing, and avoiding strikes, often finding existing resources confusing or inadequate. This uncertainty hinders their ability to create content freely and confidently.
SOURCES (60)
“my videos never really had bgm since i was always lazy to put it in my videos but ever since ive felt like adding it the only songs I put on is neffex life and the battle cats battle theme 2. Most of the ncs…”
“Its just a couple videos because of the music submitted by /u/RioNReedus [link] [comments]”
“I've been using the same royalty free outro music for the past couple of years (since either 2023/2024) and the last two videos I tried uploading both got hit for copyright claims for the outro music. When I found it, it was under a Creative Commons license and I've always put the credit in the description box (like instructed) and I've never had an issue. I don't have any issues switching my outro music, but should I worry about all the previous videos I've made and publishe”
“Is it worth buying a subscription on websites that offer original music so I can add it to my game later? On the one hand, I’ll get access to a huge library for the price of the subscription, but on the other hand, if people want to post videos of my game on YouTube, there will be copyright issues. submitted by /u/BetWooden5917 [link] [comments]”
“Doing a commentary on a film allows us to use film clips (15 seconds), and images without worrying about Copyright because we are commenting on the film. We are not claiming the images as our own. As for getting images, I use Shotdeck or Google Images. Afterwards, I use a combination of iMovie and Capcut to put my video together.”
“Memes are generally not subject to copyright, however movie clips absolutely are. I believe you can claim fair use for a critique, however it’s limited to something like 5-6 seconds. Even then, you can get struck and have your monetization either split or taken away. You can likely adjust your content to correct for this, however you are pretty exposed to these issues with your existing content”
“I was looking for a game’s OST because I really liked the music and wanted to listen to it outside the game. I was even considering buying the soundtrack to support the developer but I couldn’t find one. While searching, I came across this Steam Community discussion: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3694480/discussions/0/726902998784279409/ The developer says that the tool they used for the game’s music allows the tracks to be used inside the game but prohibits redistributing them separately which”
“I was looking for a game’s OST because I really liked the music and wanted to listen to it outside the game. I was even considering buying the soundtrack to support the developer but I couldn’t find one. While searching, I came across this Steam Community discussion: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3694480/discussions/0/726902998784279409/ The developer says that the tool they used for the game’s music allows the tracks to be used inside the game, but prohibits redistributing them separately, whi”
“Your script is automatically covered by copyright under DMCA as soon as you upload it to the internet. You don’t need to submit it to the copyright office as a separate thing.”
“Hey everyone, so I have a question about copyright. so while back, I made this short that did really well and got 5 million views. Now in the past year since I have uploaded this short, there's been people in my niche who have copied a lot of the aspects of this video since the video did so well but they changed enough where I thought it would be a bad idea to strike them. But today, I just saw a new unoriginal YouTuber copy my idea, but they took it even further. They have about 95% the sam”
“Yeah that’s what I thinking of doing… but I’m worried he counter-claim, falsely using “fair use” when he knows he just took my clips.”
“the popular songs you see in videos are usually either getting claimed (creator lets the rights holder take the ad revenue) or the creator actually paid for a sync license. Most small creators just eat the claim tbh, it's not a strike but you lose monetization on that video.”
“Hey guys! I wanted to ask how you can safely use music in videos without risking a copyright strike or getting banned. Is there any kind of copyright checker, detector, or website that you can use before uploading a video? From what I understand, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms have their own music libraries that you can use in videos. But for example, if I use a song available on TikTok and then upload that same video to YouTube, could that cause copyright problems? I also see a”
“I've been doing lyric-videos for songs in The Terminator franchise. Now I'm planning to do a lyric-video of "You Could be Mine" by GNR. Since it's a famous band, even downloading it in my software (Atube Catcher) it's impossible. If I find the way to download it and make the video, I'm afraid Copyright will reduce its views or even restrict them. For your information, I've done other videos with Tahnee Cain's songs for T1 and had no issues. What can I do? &#”
“Am thinking of some ideas for a fan film project that I want to make in the future *not the focus of this post* but am curious as to if I can use a song made by a mainstream band in my video and get the license legally and I am willing to pay some money towards this to a certain extent. Is there any possible way I can get a license and avoid a copywright strike? Also if not, is there a way I can get a license to use a cover of the song either done by myself or a friend or an official cover? Let”
“Once you know who owns it, you can go about getting the license(s). Do you have a specific recording of a song you want to use? You'll need a license for that (master) and the underlying composition (the song itself). To do this, you need to find out who owns the master recording and also publishing, which will most of the time be two different companies/people. But it's even more complicated, since you'll need a master, performance, and mechanical license, depending on how your podc”
“I kind of meant if I make content that includes my narration, some tweaks, a narrative I am telling that includes clips just to highlight my point and maybe they have me talking over them and other things rather than being left intact, then if there is a copyright claim, I could dispute it on the grounds of fair use within youtube. I don't know if I would win, but I'd at least have a reasonable shot.”
“I would try seeing if the music comes up with Shazam on your phone. If it does, it'll probably come up as a copyright claim, so I just mute the music in such games. Save the hassle.”
“I'm making a 15-25 minute video essay/entertainment video. For 2 of those minutes, I'm playing the song Spear of Justice from Undertale (by Toby Fox), the song is used as background music as I talk over the song almost the entire time, with maybe 10-15 seconds where the song plays without any voiceover. To my understanding, it is not unlikely that the video will get flagged by the Content ID detector for copyright. My questions are: If this does happen what are my odds of being able to r”
“https://budgetpixel.com/background-music I use this one now and it is for commercial use, free! no attribution unless it is a huge amount of usage.”
“What if we can't find the actual song on the official YouTube audio BUT there are other shorts that use the song therefore I can save the audio itself in my sounds playlist? Can that cause me copyright issue or monetization issue? submitted by /u/mediumkelpshake [link] [comments]”
“The safest simple route is YouTube Studio's Audio Library. You can filter for "Attribution not required"; if a track uses the Creative Commons licence, copy the supplied credit into the description. Be careful with random channels calling music "no copyright." YouTube only says its own Audio Library is known to be copyright-safe. If you use an outside library, save the licence terms and your receipt from the date you downloaded the track.”
“YouTube Studio has a song section, some do have lyrics but none of them that I've used ever got claimed or limited”
“I want to add background music to my youtube videos but I have no idea what kind of music I can add because of copyright issues. Can anyone tell me how you do this? submitted by /u/lynnqks [link] [comments]”
“I use Hoopr. Really good music library, particularly if you are creating for Indian audience. Most important for me, they have a really good support and no-copyright claims once they whitelist the channel. Btw, I create travel vlogs.”
“Hello, I make daily shorts on my channel Blue Clips about movies. I recently received this email from a company called shorts music wanting me to make my shorts with specific music in the background in return for a fixed rpm. Has anyone else worked with them before or know anything about something like this or if I should even entertain it? Thank you! This is the email text: Hello Blue Clips, My name is Alan Contreras, I’m the manager at Shorts Music. We help creators generate additional revenue”
“I used to run a Nintendo themed YouTube channel and one of the videos I made was talking about all the Mario Day things that were going on. I think maybe 5 seconds of the Mario Movie got shown in a sizzle reel or something and Nintendo went after the whole video”
“The difference isn't legal, it's operational. Music has close to total Content ID coverage. Labels have fingerprinted basically every commercial track, so the match is automatic and lands within minutes of upload. Film and TV coverage is much patchier by comparison, so a lot of clip usage simply never gets matched. That isn't the same as it being allowed, and plenty of clip channels do get hit, as the Sony story in this thread shows. Commentary helps you argue fair use, but fair use”
“I know there is copyright risk but I see channels displaying movie and tv shows clips and photos and they don’t get copyrighted struck because they are adding commentary and such so why isn’t the same for music??? So long as you don’t just outright play the music for all to listen is it okay? submitted by /u/Time-Walrus6678 [link] [comments]”
“I’m new and working on a YouTube channel focused on business case studies and documentaries. I may occasionally use screenshots of news articles, brief news clips, or brand logos to support factual points and create AI-generated visuals. Could you please share your experience with the usual permissions process? Do you typically contact the relevant publication, content owner, or brand before using this material? In particular, are brand logos allowed in AI-generated videos, and are there any lic”
“Hello, I'm an indie game developer. When you make an indie game trailer, it obviously needs music, and I'm curious if you compose those tracks yourselves. Personally, I'm not very skilled at using traditional DAWs, so I use an easier tool called BandLab to compose the music for my trailers and some in-game tracks myself. I do this because it's quite difficult to find existing music that perfectly suits my game. How do the rest of you handle this? Do you outsource it to freelancer”
“You might find some things on archive.org but searching there can be a challenge. Most things uploaded there should be listed with a Creative Commons license. Just make sure it's a license that's compatible with the type of work you're doing. (Disclosure: I work with the Blubrry support team.)”
“So if i use their 30 day trial and upload a yt video using epidemic sounds and lose the 30 day trial afterwards, that video will not get copyright striked?”
“I know that anime clips cannot be used, even if its just for a few seconds. However... I am increasingly seeing videos where people use panels//moments from manga . Does this violate Content ID?? I want to make a video about my favorite anime ... but right now I'm stuck. I don't know what I'm allowed to use...//////////F submitted by /u/agustyk [link] [comments]”
“Suno won't let you use reference audio tracks that are known, and even own lyrics in same flow, chorus pattern throw copyright errors (but frustratingly don't tell you what line or what they have issues with.). This is just meant to be a fun hype track for my local footy team. The song is made for them. 😭 submitted by /u/L3T [link] [comments]”
“Freesound offers sound recordings under various Creative Commons licenses, which are standardized and well-known. There's no "catch" as long as you follow the license terms. For sound effects, I look for CC0 , which means that the creator of the sound effect has put it in the public domain, and you don't need to give credit or pay anything to use it. This is the only "license" that is technically "copyright-free"; all other CC licenses (including the most pe”
“I’m making an anime related video, and I’ve seen creators like swagkage and others use a song from Naruto in the background I want to use, but I’m positive it will be copyrighted. The song I want to use is “a day in konoha” from Naruto. My question is how do they get passed it? Are those videos not monetized? Should I just play it really low in the background? I’m not monetized yet either, so should I just do it anyway since I’m not making money and it will help the vibe of my video? Any advice”
“I'm trying to post a short with the audio Mesmerizer but i can't and had to remove the audio. How do i fix it? submitted by /u/Szymix_pro [link] [comments]”
“This happened to one of my shorts where I downloaded music from pixabay. I included the license in the dispute and it was fine but the video was dead after that.”
“YouTube Shorts can be tricky with music. If you're using copyrighted songs, even if they're under a minute, you might still run into issues. Best bet is to use royalty-free music or the audio library provided by YouTube. CapCut has some options too, so check their music library. Just make sure whatever you choose is safe for YouTube to avoid takedowns.”
“I wanted to make a video on yt shorts but I needed audio I couldn't use it on yt shorts so I was wondering if I could use 2 song but if I keep them under a minute if it would be fine. I'm editing on capcut submitted by /u/Super-Coach-9995 [link] [comments]”
“That's great! How did you get past YouTube's original content requirements for monetization? I thought that would have been a barrier.”
“I was watching this video from Brillian Stupidity playing Warhammer 3 and I noticed he uses a bunch of copyrighted music in his videos. He just credit the author in the description. How can he do that and monetize the video? I might be missing something so please be nice submitted by /u/mordred_exe [link] [comments]”
“in my experience sound effects listed here majorly applicable for funny or meme type of videos”
“i’m new to making reels/shorts and i’m confused about how creators handle music. if i want to make a video using a song trending on let’s say instagram, i want to have the finished video with the music saved in my iphone photos and then upload that same video to both instagram and youtube. what’s the usual way creators do this? is there a way to save the video with the music after adding it through instagram/youtube or do people add the music during editing? i tried to save after uploading on in”
“Wait it doesn't? What's the difference between royalty-free and free to use? Also the website it leads to is called freeaudiolibrary Link: https://www.freeaudiolibrary.com/en/dvir-zilverstone”
“I found a big channel that uses a BGM that’s available in the YouTube Shorts music library, but instead of adding it through YouTube Studio, they add the BGM themselves during editing. Is this safe? Could this cause any copyright or monetization issues? submitted by /u/StructureApart832 [link] [comments]”
“Sorry if this is a commonly known question! I was just wondering how, as the title suggests, YouTubers use audio they don't own without getting sued or facing copyright claims? Especially with trending audios and such. How does this work? submitted by /u/puzzlehead120 [link] [comments]”
“The thing that trips people up: NonCommercial in a CC license is not about whether you personally run ads, it is about the nature of the use, and it gets judged on the whole context rather than this month revenue. A show that is building an audience, looking for sponsors, or sitting on a monetized platform can read as commercial well before a single ad airs, so not monetizing yet is a weaker shield than it feels. The swap-it-out-later plan also has a hole: the license question is settled at the”
“That depends on the game. Toby Fox, Undertale, has said that people are free to use his music. However, the publisher of the music says you can use it, just not commercially. And then YouTube might flag it anyway, so there's always a risk. To the best of my knowledge, Undertale and Deltarune are still free to use for non-commercial videos. I believe Concerned Ape, maker of Stardew Valley, has a similar statement about his music being free to use as long as you aren't monetized. A lot of”
“No. You can absolutely get flagged for using music from those games. I've heard Undertale is particularly aggressive in flagging videos with a copyright claim.”
“idk I wanna do a Pokemon channel but literally every single time I try I get hit with a copyright claim for the OST inside the games. its quite frustrating”
Here's a reality check - is it allowed? Probably not. The artists and distributor created the audio and expect to be paid whether you're earning money off of it or not. That…
“I have sent LICKD two emails through their 'contact form' in the last week and have not received any response. I am simply trying to get some clarification on a few items before signing up to their service. I have the following questions. (a) Are LICKD decent to deal with?, the fact that they have not responded to email questions form a prospective customer in the last week hasn't filled me with confidence. (b) I am viewing their pricing form Australia, the '4 premium tracks'”