How to Fix a Copyright Claim on YouTube

For YouTube content creators, there’s no worse feeling in the world than getting that dreaded copyright strike against your channel. It can rock you to your core. And for good reason too as YouTube has the power to not only mute or block your video, but your entire channel can be taken down.

You’re in luck though as we’re here to help you navigate the surprisingly tricky process of fixing a copyright claim on YouTube.

Let’s take a look at why copyright strikes happen and how to fix a copyright claim on YouTube either directly with YouTube or with our helpful content ID feature.

Let’s dive in.

Why Copyright Claims Happen

A woman sitting at a table with a microphone talking about how to fix a copyright claim on YouTube

Ok, stay with us here for a moment, but while copyright claims can be both frustrating and frightening, they’re actually a good thing. Well, that might not always seem to be the case to you, but copyrights are in place to protect the artists — something we are very passionate about here at Soundstripe.

Whether it’s music, sound effects, or video assets, using materials that don’t belong to you and without the express permission of the artists themselves is pretty not cool, right? These same copyright rules protect the art that you create yourself too.

As such, a copyright claim will only be filed against your videos if you’re improperly using music or assets that you don’t own or have permission to use. YouTube uses an algorithm to review and flag videos that are illegally using assets and they are simply letting you know that your channel is in violation.

Fixing Copyright Claims on YouTube

Flow chart showing how to fix a copyright claim on YouTube through the content ID dispute and appeal process.

Lucky for you, there are some simple ways to fix copyright claims on YouTube. The first way in which you can fix this problem is simply to make sure you’re not using any music or assets that you haven’t created yourself.

If you feel that this is the case, you can always challenge copyright claims on YouTube. In which, if you do want to dispute, you’d have to have a valid reason, such as:

Having all the necessary rights to the content in your video.
Using the content in a way that qualifies as a copyright exception, such as fair use.
Believing your video was misidentified or an error was made.

However, most copyright strikes don’t fall under any of the above. So your best bet would be to first and foremost protect yourself against copyright strikes in the first place by only using royalty free music and materials, which would then allow you to clear copyright claims quickly and easily.

Protect Your Videos from Copyright Issues

Unless you’ve been trying to illegally (or at least improperly) use too many clips from blockbuster movies or TV shows, then more often than not your copyright strikes are going to have to do with music and audio.

And, as you can see in the video below, many times the culprit is a misunderstanding about how music licensing works.

The safest way to protect your videos is to understand how copyrighted music on YouTube works and to cover your bases by only using music that you have legally licensed through trusted resources that provide royalty free music for all of your video production needs.

How to Easily Clear Copyright Claims

Here at Soundstripe, we strive to help protect both artists and content creators alike, which is why we offer full copyright claim protection for any of our users. If you’ve used Soundstripe tracks, sound effects, or video assets in your videos, we’re here to help you clear any copyright claims that might erroneously pop up.

Here’s how it works:

As you can see, Soundstripe provides all of the tools you’ll ever need to clear YouTube content claims automatically, or by chance something goes wrong, by simply providing your URL to our Content ID page.

Clear Individual YouTube Videos Without a Code

In other instances where you (or your client) forgot to include a code, or you simply uploaded a video before you listed your channel, here are the steps to follow to resolve a content claim you might have received in error.

On the Content ID tab in our Account Page, you’ll have access to a “Clear a YouTube Video” section. Click on this and you’ll be directed to copy and paste in your YouTube video URL link. Once everything is in order click “Submit”.

This works even if your client uploads a video onto their channel as all they’ll need to do is provide you with the YouTube video URL and you can submit it all the same.

Once you put in your clear request, the status will be pending until it changes to “cleared” with the date provided. (It’s important to note that the YouTube video will not preemptively clear videos from claims, this is strictly a retroactive process.)

Reasons a YouTube Video Sometimes Doesn’t Clear

If a video cannot be cleared for any reason, you’ll see a red error message that explains what’s happening with a bit more info. If you’re curious though, here are the reasons a video may not be clear:

The video does not have any content claims.
The video was uploaded to YouTube before the start of your subscription.
The video was uploaded to YouTube after the end of your subscription, plus a 14-day grace period.
The video contains content that was not downloaded by you.
You have submitted >50 videos in 24 hours.

If you are still having issues clearing a video, you can always reach out to our Soundstripe Customer Support team and they will be ready to provide you with whimsical care throughout the entire process.

Tips for Uploading Videos to Your Own Channels

For many content creators, the easiest way to make sure that their content claims are always automatically cleared is to list their personal YouTube channels on their Soundstripe accounts. Doing this ensures that Soundstripe will always be able to identify your channel and automatically release any claims that might pop up from Soundstripe music.

To do this all you need to do is go to your Account Menu and select the Content ID tab. From there you’ll paste your channel ID or search your channel by name. Once you find your channel all you need to do is click on it and it should be good to go.

Once your channel has been added it will automatically be recognized as a licensed user of Soundstripe and that you’re a current subscriber. Also, for those a bit wary about privacy, it’s important to note that listing your channel does not give Soundstripe any access to any of your private data information.

Tips for Creating Videos for Your Clients’ YouTube Channels

For those content creators looking to create videos for your clients to upload to their channels, we have you covered as well. If you create videos for your clients, Pro and Pro Plus subscribers can generate a one-time use YouTube code.

You can share these codes with your clients and direct them to copy and paste them into their video’s description when they upload it to YouTube. Please note that codes must be formatted and added as a single line of text (like this: QA28-TRIZGYI2ULC).

These single-use codes can be generated from both the Download Modal and from your Downloads Page. Each code is good for one use, except with lifetime license songs which will require you to generate a new code for each time the song is used in a new project.

Single-use codes are unlimited during your subscription or for any lifetime song license - you can generate as many as you need.