How to get YouTube Content ID as an independent creator

What Content ID does

Content ID compares every video uploaded to YouTube with a database of reference files from rights owners. When an upload matches, it gets a claim, and the owner's settings decide what happens: block the video, monetize it by running ads, or track its viewing statistics. The settings can differ by country.

YouTube watches how Content ID is used. Owners who keep claiming material they don't own can lose access, which is why it is not handed out freely.

Three ways to protect your videos

	Apply to YouTube directly	Content ID service (for example Aegis)	Copyright Match Tool
Who it suits	Large catalogues with complex rights needs	Creators with original content others keep re-uploading	Anyone who has filed a valid removal request
What happens to copies	Block, monetize or track	Block, monetize or track	Request removal, contact the channel, or archive
Who does the work	You: references, disputes, conflicts	The service	You
Cost	Your time and expertise	A fee or a share of the claim revenue	Free

The table compares kinds of services, not named companies. Fees and terms vary from one service to the next, so read each one's agreement.

What qualifies for Content ID

YouTube's rules come down to one idea: you must hold exclusive rights to everything in the reference. According to YouTube's pages on who qualifies and on eligible content, these usually don't qualify:

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

What usually does qualify is what you filmed, animated, composed or recorded yourself and have not signed away: vlogs, sketches, animation, tutorials, original music. Aegis uses the same rules when it reviews an application.

What a Content ID service handles

Running Content ID well is ongoing work. A good service should:

• add your videos as references and keep new uploads covered;
• set exclusions for any parts you don't own, so claims only hit your material;
• answer disputes from uploaders, and release claims that turn out to be fair use;
• resolve ownership conflicts and overlapping references with other rights owners;
• show you what was claimed and what it earned, and pay you on a clear schedule.

Questions to ask before you sign up

1. What share of the revenue do I keep, and is there any other fee?
2. When and how am I paid? Ask about the schedule, the minimum payout and the payment methods.
3. Can I see each claim and what it earned, or only a monthly total?
4. Who handles disputes, and how are fair-use uploads treated?
5. How do I leave? Check the notice period and what happens to existing claims.
6. Is my content already managed by someone else? Only one party can hold Content ID rights to the same content, so check your distributor, label or network agreements first.

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. We accept content you hold exclusive rights to and that others often use without your permission. Once accepted, you submit a channel or playlist link and can edit the details in bulk or one by one.

From there we claim the copies and do the work listed above: exclusions, disputes, false claims, reference overlaps, and finding the copies that automatic matching misses. Your earnings are broken down by asset and by claim, and the payment options are on our homepage. We are paid through a share of the revenue the claims earn. Every payout to creators is added up on our Creators paid page, with the method behind it.

There are guides for streamers, musicians and producers and podcasts. For the bigger picture of what a Content ID partner does, read Aegis: the future of digital rights management. If you found a copy of your video today, start with what to do when someone re-uploads your video. For the steps of claiming copies, read how to claim re-uploads with Content ID, and if your channel is still small, Content ID for small channels.