Often, creators pay millions to compensate for using another’s work in theirs. This happens intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes, you might want to use copyrighted works of others (a painting, a movie or audio clip, etc) as a reference in your videos. However, simply copy-pasting their work on your channel will be considered as “copyright infringement.”
To avoid this, you should follow YouTube’s “fair use” guidelines.
What is fair use?
Fair use allows the use of copyrighted material without permission from the owner. It is a legal term that YouTube uses as a guideline.
With Fair use, you can add small pieces of an article, movie, audio clips, etc in your videos without permission for teaching, news reporting, commenting, and criticizing. For example, a reaction video to a short movie clip is fair use. However, posting the entire movie on your channel is not.
Different countries have different rules regarding fair use. “Fair use” in the US is known as “Fair dealing” in the UK and among the Countries with British legal history (India, Australia, etc).
How is Fair use determined on YouTube?
YouTube does not determine fair use. Usually, the courts decide what is fair use and what isn’t. They rely on four factors to decide fair use:
1. The purpose and character of the use
Whether the use is for non-commercial and educational purposes or just for profit. Courts focus on whether the use is “transformative.”
Parodies are often considered as transformative use as they make fun of, comment, and criticize the original work. They add a new purpose, meaning, and message to the original work rather than copying it. Popular parody artist Bart Baker’s work is an example of this.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
Using factual and previously published material (records, footage) for research and educational purposes is more likely to be considered fair rather than purely fictional(creative) work. For example, in Muhammad Ali’s documentary video old clips and articles were used to comment, criticize, and educate the public.
3. Amount and substantiality of the portion used
How much is used? Does your whole video revolve around its use? Borrowing small bits of material from an original work is more likely to be fair use than borrowing large portions. But, if the borrowed material is the “heart” of your work, even a small bit would be unfair.
For example, this video from MsMojo uses various movie clips. The usage is short and not the “core” of the video.
4. The effect on the commercial success of the original work
How does your use of the original material affect it? If it doesn’t affect their commercial success negatively, it is fair use. Whereas, if it negatively affects the original work, stops people from buying/watching it because they can watch your content instead, it’s not.
For example, a product review video promotes the product which benefits the owner and doesn’t harm their profits.
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