Music copyright is complex, even more so in the digital realm where platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok monitor and police potential copyright infringement with automated technology across millions – sometimes billions – of videos and other forms of digital content.
There is a lot of content out there. Using YouTube as an example, more than 300 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. No human legal team could ever review this amount of data. Thus, digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok use technology to automate the process. The technology employed for this complex task is broadly referred to as ‘Music Recognition Technology’ (MRT). YouTube’s proprietary system is known as ‘Content ID’.
This technology, or MRT, is effectively “Shazaming” uploaded content, comparing the uploaded audio file with a database of registered music, deciding on the fly whether or not that music track can legally be used in that particular video (and yes, it’s checking all 300 hours of content uploaded every minute).
It’s an imperfect process, and like all automation there is a small margin for error. Sometimes MRT raises incorrect copyright flags, which can lead to content being blocked or muted. Unfortunately, even in cases where the uploader has all legal rights to use that music in their uploaded content.
At Melodie, we exclusively control all rights in our catalogue and do not monetise or block any digital platforms (including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch or TikTok).
Thankfully, this makes it easy for Digital Creators who use Melodie music to resolve copyright issues via third party digital platforms. Depending on the platform raising the copyright notice, and the situation, the below instructions will help you quickly fix any copyright issues that may arise.
At “Review requirements” stage, you might see a warning like this:
“Not all licences are the same. If you have a licence, make sure that you understand the terms of your agreement. For example, some licences allow you to include a song in your video, but don’t permit you to monetise it.”
If this is the case, you should simply tick the “I have permission to use the content from the copyright owner” box at the end and click Continue.
To dispute the Content ID claim you should do the following steps:
Statement
“I created this video using music from Melodie Music Pty Ltd and I have the right to use it. I can provide you with my User Licence which confirms this. You can also contact the copyright holder Melodie Music Pty Ltd at [email protected]. They would confirm my right to use their tracks. Please remove this claim.”
You should simply file a counter-notification and provide your User Licence proving that you have all the right to use Melodie tracks in your content.
Statement
“I created this video using music from Melodie Music Pty Ltd and I have the right to use it. I can provide you with my User Licence which confirms this. You can also contact the copyright holder Melodie Music Pty Ltd at [email protected]. They would confirm my right to use their tracks. Please remove this claim.”
If you received the message “Your video is partially muted due to a copyright match”, you should follow these steps:
Statement
“I created this video using music from Melodie Music Pty Ltd and I have the right to use it. I can provide you with my User Licence which confirms this. You can also contact the copyright holder Melodie Music Pty Ltd at [email protected]. They would confirm my right to use their tracks. Please remove this claim.”
If your content was removed, Facebook will have sent you an email with instructions to dispute the claim. You should:
Statement
“I created this video using music from Melodie Music Pty Ltd and I have the right to use it. I can provide you with my User Licence which confirms this. You can also contact the copyright holder Melodie Music Pty Ltd at [email protected]. They would confirm my right to use their tracks. Please remove this claim.”
You should follow these steps:
You should respond to the notification of claimed infringement that you received from Twitch, or email [email protected], providing the following information:
I, <your full name as an electronic signature>, wish to state that:
I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my address is located, or if my address is outside of the United States, the judicial district in which Twitch may be found, and will accept service of process from the claimant.
I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material identified in the notification was identified, removed, and/or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification.