So I've noticed that YouTube's bullshit Content ID system is now affecting gamers,
and as someone who's extremely familiar with YouTube's bullshit Content ID system,
I thought I'd give a few pointers, and hopefully from this you can all understand just how massively fucking retarded this bullshit is.
Now, because I'm a film reviewer and use clips from movies to make my points,
I've been putting up with this exact same thing since forever ago.
And please do not get me wrong, I am NOT defending the existence of the Content ID program in any way,
but if this is something that's gonna stay, and knowing YouTube it very well might,
then there's a few things that you guys should know.
First off, when you receive the copyright claim from YouTube's Content ID system, that doesn't mean that you violated copyright,
all that means is that portions of whatever you uploaded matched up with portions of someone's copyrighted material.
The way that this works on the copyright holder's side is that there's a database that they upload to.
If a studio wants a song or a movie not to appear on YouTube, they'll uploaded to YouTube's Content ID database,
which is not viewable by the YouTube audience, but it's put into an archive of copyrighted materials,
so that whenever anyone uploads a video from anywhere, it will scan said uploaded video during the processing
to make sure that certain frames and certain audio cues don't match up with the copyrighted material.
Now, remember this is all done automatically,
so don't get stuck with the mindset that whoever owns the copyright reviewed it,
and then determined it to be copyright infringement,
and most copyright holders are perfectly okay with fair use and will allow your video to be posted after you submit a dispute.
Not only that, but most claims that you'll receive will say that it's not affecting the video whatsoever,
and the ones that are blocked worldwide are not that common.
And even in that case, the video is only blocked worldwide until you submit a dispute.
During that time that they have to respond to your dispute, the video will not be blocked worldwide.
Now, keep in mind that it's absolutely true that you will not be able to run ads on any videos that are under dispute.
I personally think that's fucking bullshit and that you should be able to run ads on anything,
so long as it's not proven that you're violating copyright.
Remember, I completely disagree with all this bullshit too,
but I'm just letting you know how to make the most of it if this is what they decided to permanently.
So, once you dispute the claim, the copyright holder has 30 days to respond to your dispute.
I personally think 30 days is way too fucking long.
Anyway, if they do not respond within 30 days, then the claim is automatically removed,
and you can run whatever ads on it they used to have, just fine.
Again, I completely disagree with this whole system, but it's something that I've been putting up with for three fucking years
Now, I submit my disputes so often that it's just a copy-pastable message that I keep on hand at this point,
but when making your own, it should go something like this:
First, explain that your video is Fair Use under the DMCA; I always include a link to the PDF of the actual DMCA, just in case,
then explain why it's Fair Use. For me, it's under commentary and criticism,
because I'm reviewing things and making fun of them and having an opinion on them.
Regardless of whether or not it's a negative opinion, I have every right to be able to post my material without their permission.
Now, Let's Plays and game reviews or pretty much anything that's not just a direct upload of their material is also Fair Use,
and the point that you really want to make when submitting your dispute
is that you're not serving as a replacement for their own market.
People are watching my reviews for my commentary on the movie, it's not a substitute for the movie.
Sure, people can watch my review and decide not to watch it, I could spoil fucking everything in the movie,
and they could decide not to watch it, but as long as I'm providing a different product than what the movie is selling,
I have every right to be able to post it and run ads on it.
Even dubbing over an animé is Fair Use.
So, if you can make your case that you understand what Fair Use is, and why your video applies to it, then just do it.
Anyway, the studios that I've had to deal with have over time become more understanding as to what Fair Use is,
and how it actually benefits their own sales.
Universal released their claim on my Brüno review within 24 hours of receiving it,
I made my dispute, I explained why it's Fair Use for purposes of commentary and criticism,
and they removed the claim, just like that.
So, that's best case scenario, but I'm also going to teach you how to prepare for the worst.
Now, I don't really believe that whoever's paid to be the Content Manager for a giant studio
or even just an independent copyright holder doesn't know what Fair Use is,
and yet on Fair Use material such as my own, I have received notice that upon reviewal of my dispute,
the claim has been reinstated.
Typically, it's the exact same company abusing their power over and over again,
so if you wind up with a reinstated claim, it's worse than before but it's still fixable.
So, what you want to do when you have a reinstated claim is file an appeal.
Ironically, you can only file appeals if your account is in good standing,
and what really sucks is that you're only allowed to have three open at a time.
I know, it's bullshit.
So, basically, by filing an appeal, all you have to do is just copy and paste the exact same thing
you've already fucking sent in your dispute, except this time you're forced to fill out a bunch of personal information,
including your name and address.
Now after you file an appeal, there's a good chance that they will remove their claim at that point.
If they don't do anything for 30 days, then your video is fine and back up and perfectly healthy again.
Again, 30 days is a fucking bitch, but if YouTube doesn't change anything about that, I guess we have to fucking deal with it.
But if they don't want to remove your claim, there's one final blow that the studio can deal you without actually suing you.
If after you file the appeal, the studio still doesn't want your video up, they can issue a takedown notice.
Now, once this happens your video is automatically removed and you have a strike on your account.
However, you can also get past this. It just takes more fucking waiting.
From your video manager, you can issue something called a counter-notification.
All you have to do is fill out the form saying the exact same fucking thing that you've already copied and pasted
about why your videos fucking Fair Use and not violating any copyright.
And this is the part that might bug some people, but filing a counter-notification is considered a legal action,
that means that by filing it, you're essentially telling the copyright holder,
"Fucking sue me!"
Now something really important to note about this is that no studio or copyright holder is that fucking stupid
that they will actually try to sue you.
This step is basically just calling their bluff.
I've been doing this for three years and not been sued once.
Now, that being said, if your content actually is infringing on copyright, then of course they're gonna sue you,
but if you're abiding by fair use, which is the majority of YouTubers, then you have nothing to worry about,
and by that I mean you have nothing to worry about, except having to deal with this frustrating tedious bullshit.
Remember, I'm not out to say,
"Come on, guys. This isn't that bad. We should all be happy with YouTube's new changes."
I'm saying, "Yes, it is that fucking bad, because I've experienced it for three fucking years,
but here's how you can make the most of it"
Once you send it, it then takes up to 10 business days to process.
After processing, it can take up to 14 days after that point for your video to be restored.
Now, during this long period of time, since the video WAS removed, you do have a strike on your account this whole time.
Meaning that if you have any other reinstated claims in your inbox,
you cannot file appeals until your account is back without the fucking strike.
Now, it's important to note that if you have three strikes on your YouTube channel, your account gets removed.
I'm assuming that there's a way to fight that as well, but because that rule exists,
even though I'm allowed to file three appeals at a time,
I only ever allow myself to have two open at a time, just in case they all come back with takedown notices,
because based on my understanding, it seems as though even if all three of those takedown notices are illegitimate,
your account will be completely fucking gone until you can get that taken care of.
And if the only way to take care of those takedown notices to issue more counter notices,
then the account could be gone for almost a fucking month,
and if you think about it, if a studio or copyright holder was malicious enough to want to fuck you over in the worst way possible,
from the initial dispute they could wait 29 days until they reinstate their claim,
and then after your appeal they could wait another 29 days to issue a takedown notice.
So, even if you're responding to everything in your copyright inbox as soon as it's sent to you,
there's a possibility that your video might not be monetizable for up to three fucking months.
Now, I've never experienced it that bad before, but believe me, it is possible.
Another thing to note about how retarded their Content ID system is,
is that somehow, overtime, claims are able to be reissued from the exact same studios for the exact same footage,
on videos where disputes have been resolved.
It makes no fucking sense.
And crazy enough, these options weren't even available three years ago.
It used to be that you couldn't fight back against your video getting removed,
but now it's at the point where, even if it takes fucking forever,
and even if more claims are coming in than you can process at a time, which is kinda fucking stupid,
you will still be able to post your video in the end, even if it takes fucking forever, and is the most frustrating thing in the world.
Now, sometimes you'll get a claim on your video,
even though you had no copyrighted footage or music or anything in it,
and the reason why that happens is because of the tags.
By including certain movie and game titles in your tags, sometimes your content will get flagged, just fucking because.
It's not that often that happens, but it has happened before.
But if you want to avoid footage or music being detected through your YouTube's Content ID system,
it is possible to get around it, depending on your medium.
If video frames or music in your video or getting detected, and what you're doing is a silent play-through of a video game,
then you're kinda fucked, and have to go through that whole fucking process that I already explained.
Now, if you're doing a voice-over or Let's Play of a video game, you should be able to get past YouTube audio detection,
as long as your voice is louder than the original audio from the game.
If there's long periods of silence from your microphone,
and the audio from the game is something that went through YouTube content ID system,
then you might be fucked, so I would try to talk over as much of it as possible.
Or just edit out the parts where it's just the game audio.
Now, if it's something like frames from a cut scene that is being detected,
then you're either going to want to avoid using anything featuring the cut scenes, which would be kinda fucking stupid,
or if you can stomach it, just edit it in a certain way that it'll get past YouTube's detection.
A lot of the time, simply editing the scene just to be a mirror image will get it passed YouTube's detection unnoticed.
Another thing that you can do is try to make it so that there aren't as many successive frames matching up.
When I edit my film reviews for YouTube, I try to avoid having any clips last more than five seconds,
but unfortunately, depending on your style of Let's Play, editing the video might not be something that you can actually do.
So, the rest of these tips are for reviewers, whether or not you're reviewing a game or a movie,
these tips should apply just the same.
Whenever you upload a video, always make sure you set it to private beforehand.
Most Content ID claims will come as soon as the video's finished processing.
And since it time stamps it for you, you get a good idea of exactly what frames caused the detection in the first place.
So when I was uploading part 1 of my Walking Dead review,
and it showed that frames match up from an interview I was using from AMC's YouTube channel,
I realized that that point in the video was one of few where I let a clip play seamlessly.
I used my editing software to zoom in on the faces of the people talking during the interview,
rather than showing the whole frame, and even though it had the same runtime and the same audio,
on my next upload, it did not get detected at all.
Yes, it is a huge bitch to have to re-edit something and re-upload it again until you get it right,
and honestly, sometimes it doesn't even work from that point on,
but it is a way around the issue if you do find it to be worth it.
And to me, it's a lot more worth it when considering monetizing a video,
because I don't like taking the risk of having my content completely unmonetizable for three months.
And if you publish it before that point, everybody's gonna have seen it before you can actually make any money off of it,
and since we're on the topic of monetizing, here are some tricks for that as well.
If you see something that says that YouTube is reviewing your video for monetization,
that is fucking bullshit.
Nobody's actually reviewing anything.
As long as nothing in your video gets detected by YouTube's Content ID system,
it's real easy to make sure that you can monetize it.
Just make sure that during your upload and when you apply for monetization,
that you have no title, no description, and no tags.
Now of course, you can't leave those things blank, so what I do is just type non-existent words into the keyboard.
The monetization review process for YouTube is just as automated as YouTube's Content ID system,
so if you wind up getting rejected, it's more often than not because you included text associated to something that is copyrighted.
Even if you put something as simple as "Spider-Man Review",
it will act as if you're trying to monetize the actual Spider-Man movie.
For smaller channels, it will take longer for videos to be monetized, while they pretend to review it,
but for more established channels it should be approved within the day. It can even happen within seconds.
Now, apparently YouTube is also changing the way they review videos for monetization,
so this might be irrelevant in a month, but hey, it works now.
Anyway, even if you get your video monetized there is a possibility that it will become unmonetizable in the future,
and this can happen just fucking randomly.
It hit three of my videos at once and unfortunately it included my most viewed one.
Basically, YouTube will messenge your inbox saying,
"You need to provide more information that you actually on the rights to be able to run ads on this."
It's incredibly unspecific as to what they would consider to be proof,
especially if the video's just you talking in front of a camera or some shit,
like, what are you supposed to provide for them?
But unfortunately, after you send this message, if they do not approve it,
too bad, you cannot monetize it, and there's no way to fight it.
And for some reason, no matter what your content is, you'll more often than not lose the ability to monetize it.
Apparently, someone reviews it and determines that you did not provide the proper documents
to prove that your own video is yours.
Anyway, hopefully this helps out some people that still want to be able to make videos on YouTube,
even if they don't change this stupid fucking bullshit.
It's because of this, that I also have my own website and host my videos through another player.
That way, I always have a backup for whatever copyright bullshit I have to deal with on YouTube.
Plus, if I have a new video and I'm not able to publish it right away on YouTube,
I can always premier it on my website first.
Anyway, I fucking hate YouTube's Content ID system,
and despite how shitty it is that the whole gaming community now has to suffer with it too,
I'm kind of glad that people are actually talking about it now.
So please, if any action takes place and you are pressuring YouTube to change their system at all,
which I am all for, just remember not to leave film reviewers like me behind.
There's a reason why Red Letter Media, Nostalgia Critic and all them use Blip instead,
but Blip fucking canned me, because I didn't have enough viewers.
So, if we're advocating for YouTube to change anything at all,
make sure that we're advocating for YouTube to change the system entirely.
Because if they just go back to the old way of having video games mostly excluded from the Content ID system,
then that's great for you, but I'll be left in the dark and shit out of luck.
And if they wind up not changing anything, then I guess just use this video to try and make the best of it,
but I seriously do hope something changes, because this system is fucked.
Subtitles by JorWat