How to Break YouTube (Copyright Claim your own video)

ymfah · 1.6M views · 2020 · 9:57

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Why Hacker News recommends it

HN cites it as an example of how easily the Content ID system can be gamed, mostly in copyright-claim discussions.

What it is

A guide to using YouTube's Content ID by claiming your own videos through a distributor, so the claims share revenue with the creator and monetize re-uploads. It credits another creator who pioneered the method.

Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2022.

What Hacker News said

Cites kristofferR · 2020-02 · on “Warner music claimed my video for defending their copyright [video]”

There is actually something creators can do about it. If you add your own copyrighted song to ContentID and add the song to your video, you can copyright claim your own video and prevent others from abusing ContentID to earn money on it. [this video]

Cites norswap · 2020-03 · on “Explaining copyright broke the YouTube copyright system”

The situation is now so silly that some people are circumventing the system by copyright claiming their own videos: [this video] This enable them to at least get some of the revenue of their video (by sharing with other (often bogus) claimants), and to monetize re-uploads (something normally available only to big channels). Why Google doesn't do anything about this mess is beyond me.

Cites Veedrac · 2020-03 · on “Explaining copyright broke the YouTube copyright system”

It's not just that it's easy, but that the theft is legal and profitable. You don't even need to be rich to do this, you just need stuff you can claim; see How to Break YouTube (Copyright Claim your own video). [this video]

Cites cthor · 2022-07 · on “Fran Blanche: This Is Not Legal”

The self-claiming thing has at least been done already (through the use of online music labels): < [LINK] > and < [this video] > YouTube doesn't let just anyone make ContentID claims and start trolling. You do need to jump through a few hoops to get an air of legitimacy first.