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When editing a video of your action camera footage most likely the question will come up: Which music should or can I use? Probably one of your favorite artist or a song you like. But you will encounter some problems when publishing your videos online as you may not have rights to use this song. This article won’t be an overview of copyright or legal information, rather an outlook what will happen to your video and a guide how to avoid being blocked when using music on YouTube & Facebook.

Btw. purchasing a song on iTunes or any other platform does not grant you the right to use it in your project and upload it! It also doesn’t matter if you earn money with your video or if you just want to share it.

 

YouTube

“If you upload a video that contains copyright-protected material, you could end up with a Content ID claim. These claims are issued by companies that own music, movies, TV shows, video games, or other copyright-protected material.” -YouTube

In other words the audio track of your uploaded video is checked an compared with footage from copyright-owners. If the systems detects copy righted material (not only audio, also video footage) you will see this claim.

What happens then?

“In most cases, getting a Content ID claim isn’t a bad thing for your YouTube channel. It just means, “Hey, we found some material in your video that’s owned by someone else.” – Youtube.

But you are not in control anymore of what happens to your video. The owner can allow the use their content and will place ads within or before your video and will earn money. You won’t get a share! But they have other options as well:

  • Blocking a video: Sometimes, copyright owners may block your video, which means people won’t be able to watch it. They can decide to block your video worldwide or just in certain countries.
  • Muting a video: If your video contains copyright-protected music, the owner may choose to mute it. This means that people can still watch your video, but they won’t be able to hear the soundtrack. This won’t affect your account standing.
  • Blocking certain platforms: In some cases, copyright owners may restrict the devices, apps, or websites on which their content can appear. These restrictions won’t change the availability of your video on YouTube.com.

If you do own the rights for the music used, you can file a dispute and claim the rights, but be careful! If you dispute a claim without a valid reason, the content owner may choose to take down your video. If this happens, your account will get a copyright strike. And similar to Baseball after 3 strikes you are out!

 

Facebook

“Facebook is committed to helping people and organizations protect their intellectual property rights. The Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities does not allow posting content that violates someone else’s intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark.” – Facebook

This includes rights on music you want to use in your videos. As far as I know: If you use music which is detected by the system, the music rights manager where right owners can upload footage that should be checked, your video will be deleted. There are no other options like on Youtube, so you can’t upload the video as long as this music is being used.

 

How to avoid videos being blocked or deleted?

Simplest way is to create your own music so you own the rights. But that’s also the hardest way, so let’s take a look at some other options:

YouTube identified this problem for video creators and offers the YouTube Audio Library. There you can browse music, download them and use them in your edits. On the platform you will find info on which requirements have to be fulfilled to use the music (e.g. you have to name the artist in the description).

Facebook continued this idea and offers the Facebook Sound Collection where you can download songs as background for your video. Btw both platforms are not limited to music only, you can also find sound effects.

There are several other plattforms where you can purchase music for your video projects. Prices start at 49 USD per song at Premium Beat. Audionetwork has a cheaper creator license for 8.99 USD per song per 24.99 USD if you want to monetise you video on YouTube. Of course you can also search for “Royalty free music” and browse websites of artists who offer their music.

 

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