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Hi, I'm Patrick McKay, creator of FairUseTube.org
a web site dedicated to promoting awareness of fair use rights in US copyright law
on youtube and other uses generated video sites.
I'm also a law student at Regent University School of Law.
Have you ever uploaded a new video to YouTube and gone to watch it, only to see a message like this
that your video havd been blocked because of a copyright claim by someone like Warner Music Group
which is notorious for blocking all videos on YouTube that use its songs?
Well you'll be happy to know that it is not the end of the line for your video
as you have the option to dispute the copyright claim
and have your vide restored.
This is possible because of an exception in copyright law
called "fair use"
which allows you to make unauthorized uses of copyrighted material for purposes such as
comment, criticism, parody, and education.
In addition to these specific uses, several other factors could make your video qualify
for this fair use exception
including if your video is noncommercial - meaning you're not trying to make a profit from it.
Transformative - meaning it alters the original work and adds new meaning and message to it.
It uses only small or minimum amounts of the original.
It does not compete with the original work or serve as a substitute for it,
such that it causes no harm to the market for the original work.
Common types of videos on YouTube that at least in my opinion are likely to qualify as fair use include:
Anime music videos and film mashps
Parody videos such as political parodies using songs with satirical lyrics
Filming yourself singing copyright songs.
Movie reviews using brief clips from a film
And home videos and documentary type videos capturing copyrighed material playing in the background
like a TV show playing on a TV or a song playing on the radio.
For more information information on how to determine if your video qualifies as fair use,
please read the "Guide to YouTube Removals" available at fairusetube.org.
So once you have decided that your video is fair use
the next step is to file a dispute against the copyright claim on YouTube.
Here I am on my YouTube homepage
Go up to my screenname,
Click on videos, favorites, and playlists
and then from there click on "Content ID matches"
I'm not actually going to file a whole copyright dispute today because none of these these videos
are actually being blocked,
but I'll go through the steps up to the confirmation to show you how it's done.
Scroll down here
"View copyright info"
this brings up a page
giving information about the video's copyright status
"I want to learn more about the dispute process"
This gives a page
describing the basics of filing a copyright dispute
valid and invalid reasons to dispute the claim
"Take me to the dispute form"
Select the second option
type a description of why the video is fair use
type electronic signature here
your real name, not your YouTube screenname
cut and paste the statement good faith into this box here
click continue
click submit dispute
it would automatically restore my video.