The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.Section 107 of the Copyright Act lays out the statutory framework for determining fair use by providing the following four factors: What is Fair Use?įair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright protected works in certain circumstances. In other words, the right to reproduce or prepare “derivative” works belongs exclusively to the copyright owner, unless done so under the protection of the “fair use” exception. In the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.In the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly.In the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly.To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending.To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work.To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords.Copyright Act, copyright protection is available for “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” More specifically, it gives the copyright owner the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: The fact that you are disclaiming the rights to the song or video you are uploading does not matter because you never had the right to reproduce a copy of that performance in the first place. This is where copyright law is often misunderstood. Is that enough to avoid copyright infringement? Probably not. Oftentimes, people don’t realize they are actually violating copyright laws and it is fairly common to see them post something like this in the description:
The safest way to avoid copyright violations when uploading to YouTube is to only use content that you have created yourself. When it comes to YouTube, it boils down to whether or not you can use someone else’s work in your video without licensing it.
It has also become a hotbed for copyright infringement.Ĭopyright law may seem pretty straightforward on its face, in that it protects “original works of authorship,” however it leaves many questions unanswered and open to interpretation. With over a billion users and countless hours of content, YouTube has become one of the leading sites for viewing videos online.