 I'm Anthony Smith and these are the Top 5 Things You Need To Know About Copyright. Copyright is not necessarily a bad thing. Videos don't get copyright. Sure, you may get a copyright strike or a copyright notice, but let's not treat the words copyright and copyright infringement like they're interchangeable. 1. Copyright exists from the moment content is created in a fixed form. Many people assume that copyright only exists once you register something that you've created with the US Copyright Office or another country's equivalent. While registering with your respective government entity can't hurt, it's not necessary for copyright to exist. What exists the moment your content is in a tangible form of expression. The US Copyright Office defines this as something directly perceptible or in a form that is to be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Under US Copyright Law, a wide variety of works can be copyrighted. The categories listed here were meant to be interpreted broadly. These categories include literary works, musical works, including words if applicable, dramatic works, and the music in them, noted choreography, pictures, sculptures, and other graphical works, films, sound recordings, and architectural works. Again, these categories were intended to be interpreted as broadly as possible because the government wished to encourage and not impede creativity. Now you cannot copyright phrases, ideas, methods, underlying concepts, or widely accepted theorems, or anything that is common knowledge. However, names, titles, short phrases can still be trademarked. Number 2. Fair use is fair use, except when it's not. There are a lot of misconceptions regarding fair use, especially where YouTube is concerned. Fair use is not one size fits all. What counts as fair use in one person's video may not necessarily apply to you and in your video. Now let me explain. US copyright law and international treaties generally recognize fair use as the legal utilization of copyrighted content for the purposes of commentary review, news reporting, scholarly research, parody, and education. However, fair use does not immediately apply if your content fits under one of those categories. Fair use is ultimately determined after considering these four criteria. One, the purpose and character of the use. Two, the nature of the copyrighted content. Three, the percentage of the whole copyrighted work used. And four, the potential market value of both the original and the derivative works. Under these four categories of for-profit parody advertisement may fall under fair use, while an ad-less reaction video may not. Fair use is only really decided by a judge at the end of the day. It is implemented into a case-by-case basis and provides no blanket protection. Number 3. All plagiarism is copyright infringement, but not all copyright infringement is plagiarism. Miriam Webster defines plagiarism as the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person. Plagiarism is theft, pure and simple. There is no excuse for it, no grounds to justifying it, stealing someone's work is in essence a violation of their copyright. In those scenarios, you are willfully distributing their content without their permission. The detent of the US Copyright Act of 1976, particularly the portion that gives the copyright owner the exclusive right to distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, etc. But what if you give someone credit in the video description? What if you say, no copyright infringement intended? Is that plagiarism? The short answer is no, it's not plagiarism. You gave full credit to the person who made the original, however, you are still potentially infringing on that content creator's copyright. No copyright disclaimer in the video or description will change that. This would be like me kicking you in the shin and then saying, oops, no pain intended. It doesn't change the fact that I did in fact cause you pain. If you do not have a written statement from the original content creator stating that you have permission to post their work, you are still violating their legal right to exclusively distribute their creation. Typically, permission is given either through a license to use their work such as what you'd see with a music library or contract. Depending on the nature of the contract, permission may only be temporary, so be sure to read what you're signing at all times. Number 4. Mailing yourself a copy of your work is not adequate copyright protection in a court of law. Known as the poor man's copyright, this entails mailing yourself a copy of the work so that you have a date stamp record of when you sent it. It's also a waste of postage. Remember, copyright exists the moment the work takes a tangible form. Additionally, this method is no replacement for actual registration. While the UK is a bit more flexible on the subject of the poor man's copyright, this process does not constitute adequate proof that you are the creator. Registering your work with your country's respective copyright office allows you to pursue statutory damages in the event of infringement, but it can also be cost prohibitive. Check your country's copyright office for details. Granted, this one doesn't apply to YouTube as much since everything is digital now, but it's still good information to have. Just because someone told you that you can use their content does not mean that you can distribute it to others. Picture this scenario. Pretend that you contact me about your desire to feature my music in your channel. If I were to say yes, you could then upload my music in a showcase video. Simple, right? The problem is, some folks take it one step further and assume the permission also allows them to distribute my music as royalty-free tracks without further attribution. This is seen all too often in music, film, and even with books and short stories. A person sends someone else a manuscript with the intent of getting an opinion, only to find it on a website or blog later on. Just don't do it. It's not yours to distribute. When in doubt, ask the person whose content you wish to use for specific instructions. There you go, there are your five things to know about copyright. Just for kicks and giggles, here's a bonus fact about copyright. Bonus number six. Short tracks often sometimes have more than one right attached to them. Confused? I wouldn't blame you. This takes a little bit more patience to wrap your head around, but largely explains why using music on YouTube is such a difficult affair. A musical copyright is often a large conglomeration of multiple smaller rights that occasionally aren't even owned by the same person or organization. The nitty gritty explanation may be best saved for a different video. But a long story short, you often need to contend with two rights in particular, especially if you'll be making money off of the content that you use. We've established that copyright is present the moment that a work takes tangible form. Copyright law allows the copyright owner to assign or delegate certain aspects of that right to individuals or groups as he or she chooses. In most cases, this is usually a publisher. Typically, you'll need to secure mechanical rights and synchronization rights in order to use some tracks. Mechanical rights deal with the right to include a composition or sound recording. You'll need to acquire synchronization rights to then include that sound recording in a larger audio-visual production. Just getting permission for one or the other isn't enough. You need both when applicable. Well, that does it for this video. If you found this content helpful in any way, hit that like button and let me know in the comment section down below what copyright information you found most useful. Also, remember to subscribe to Bill Miller link below if you haven't already. Till next time, don't forget to like, subscribe and do all those things that make us love our jobs. Also, be awesome to yourself and amazing to each other. Bye Freedom Family.