How to claim re-uploads of your videos with Content ID

Before you start: can your videos be claimed?

Content ID only protects material you hold exclusive rights to. YouTube's pages on who qualifies and on content eligible for Content ID list what can't be used as a reference, including:

• compilations, mashups, "best of" videos and remixes of other people's work;
• video gameplay, unless you are the game's publisher;
• music or footage licensed to you without exclusivity;
• recordings of concerts, events, speeches and shows;
• Creative Commons, royalty-free and public-domain material.

If a video mixes your own footage with material like this, the parts you don't own can be excluded so that claims rest on your material only. A video built mostly on someone else's material can't be claimed.

Step 1: get access to Content ID

YouTube calls Content ID a tool for owners with the most complex rights needs, such as record labels and film studios, and decides who gets it. You can apply to YouTube directly, but most independent creators go through a third-party service provider, which manages Content ID on their behalf for a fee or a share of the revenue. Our guide to how independent creators get Content ID compares the routes.

If you only want copies taken down, you don't need Content ID. The Copyright Match Tool finds full re-uploads of your videos once you have filed a valid removal request, and lets you request their removal for free.

Step 2: add your videos as references

A reference is the original file that uploads are compared against. YouTube asks that each reference covers one piece of content, is clearly distinct from other references, and has an informative title. Your vlogs, sketches, animation or music each become their own reference.

This is also the moment to set exclusions. Licensed music in your intro, a clip from a film, a game on screen: anything you don't own exclusively has to be kept out of the reference. Otherwise your claims would hit videos that only share that material with yours.

Step 3: choose what happens to a match

For each match, the owner's settings, called a policy, decide what Content ID does:

• Monetize: the copy stays up and runs ads, and the revenue goes to the rights owner instead of the uploader.
• Block: the copy can't be watched.
• Track: the copy stays up and you see its viewing statistics.

Policies can differ by country, so a copy can be monetized in one place and blocked in another. Monetizing is often the practical choice: the views happen anyway, and the copy keeps showing your work to new viewers.

Step 4: review matches and handle disputes

A match is not proof that a video breaks your copyright. The uploader may have a license from you, or use a short part of your video for commentary or criticism, which can be fair use. Our guide to fair use on YouTube explains where that line usually falls.

Uploaders can dispute a claim. The claimant then has 30 days to respond and can release the claim, reinstate it, or file a removal request, which takes the video down and gives the uploader a copyright strike. If the claimant doesn't respond in time, the claim expires. YouTube can remove Content ID access from owners who keep making wrong claims, so disputes need a real answer.

Copies that matching misses

Reuploaders often crop, mirror, re-render, cut or speed up a video so that automatic matching misses it. YouTube has a Manual Claiming Tool for this, but only for partners who have shown they need it. The person claiming must watch the video and mark exactly where the owner's content appears, and wrong claims can cost the partnership.

How it works with Aegis

Aegis is a Content ID service for creators. You apply with the Apply Now button and sign in with Google. Three short questions tell you early whether your content might not qualify, and a person reviews every application. Once you are accepted, you give us a link to your channel or a playlist, and we add your videos as references.

From there we do the steps above for you: exclusions for the parts you don't own, policies, disputes, false claims, overlaps with other owners' references, and the copies automatic matching misses. We are paid through a share of the revenue the claims earn, and your earnings are broken down by asset and by claim.

Not sure your videos qualify, or how often they get copied? The free channel check reads your channel's public videos and shows which are most likely to be re-uploaded and whether Aegis fits your content. If you found a copy today, start with what to do when someone re-uploads your video. If your channel is still growing, read Content ID for small channels.