Copyright
YouTube is designed to ensure that every player in our ecosystem can be successful.
This includes both protecting rightsholders and giving creators peace of mind so that they can focus on producing original content.
How YouTube’s Copyright Protection Tools work
We've invested millions of dollars in developing a Copyright Management Suite that's designed to balance the needs of our entire ecosystem — and we have clear rules when it comes to copyright.
YouTube has worked directly with rightsholders to ensure that copyrighted material on our platform is authorised, and that we provide those robust tools to allow rightsholders to notify YouTube of alleged infringement, which we remove in accordance with the law. There are three main tools that make up our Copyright Management Suite:
Webform
Who is it for?
Available in more than 80 languages, all rightsholders have access to the webform, which we've built as a streamlined and efficient way to submit copyright removal requests.
What does it do?
Rightsholders enter a few details of their request, which is then reviewed by YouTube to see if it meets the legal requirements for removing the reported content.
Rights holders have access to powerful features, including the ability to ask YouTube to automatically prevent copies of the removed content from being reuploaded.
Copyright Match Tool
Who’s it for?
It helps creators and rights holders protect their content by automatically finding videos that are the same or very similar to ones previously uploaded.
What does it do?
If a match is found, the creator or the rightsholder is notified. They can then review the video that potentially reused their content and decide whether to request the video's removal.
Content ID
Who's it for?
Rightsholders who have the most complex rights management needs and experience heavy reposting of copyrighted material, like film studios and music labels.
What does it do?
Rightsholders can pre-determine rules for when content matches are found, choosing to block a whole video from being viewed, monetise the video by running ads against it or track the video's viewership stats.
Webform
Who is it for?
Available in more than 80 languages, all rightsholders have access to the webform, which we've built as a streamlined and efficient way to submit copyright removal requests.
What does it do?
Rightsholders enter a few details of their request, which is then reviewed by YouTube to see if it meets the legal requirements for removing the reported content.
Rights holders have access to powerful features, including the ability to ask YouTube to automatically prevent copies of the removed content from being reuploaded.
Copyright Match Tool
Who’s it for?
It helps creators and rights holders protect their content by automatically finding videos that are the same or very similar to ones previously uploaded.
What does it do?
If a match is found, the creator or the rightsholder is notified. They can then review the video that potentially reused their content and decide whether to request the video's removal.
Content ID
Who's it for?
Rightsholders who have the most complex rights management needs and experience heavy reposting of copyrighted material, like film studios and music labels.
What does it do?
Rightsholders can pre-determine rules for when content matches are found, choosing to block a whole video from being viewed, monetise the video by running ads against it or track the video's viewership stats.
How YouTube Addresses Copyright Claims Appeals
The majority of copyright claims and removal requests on YouTube come from our automatic detection technology.
We empower uploaders to report wrongful takedown requests, and we measure how often creators push back against removals and Content ID claims in our Copyright Transparency Report
Of the more than 2 billion Content ID claims made in 2024, fewer than 1% have been disputed. Over 70% of those disputes succeeded, because claimants either voluntarily released the claim or did not respond within the 30-day window, resulting in the claim's release. (Source)