How to respond to a takedown notice from YouTube
The Church of Ireland Press Office has prepared this helpful guidance on responding to takedown notices from YouTube. Similar guidance will follow on copyright disputes on Vimeo and Facebook.
Why might have I received a takedown notice from YouTube?
This is likely to have occurred as a YouTube algorithm has identified content within your video as infringing copyright. This action is known as a copyright strike and can cause confusion if a parish has obtained all the relevant licences to help it comply with copyright law in its jurisdiction. It is very important that a parish disputes these notices as after three copyright strikes YouTube will:
Consider terminating the parish’s account
Remove all the videos uploaded to the account
Stop you from creating new YouTube channels
Why does this happen?
When a video is uploaded to YouTube, the platform will run the video through software which is designed to recognise a particular melody, to check if this is infringing on someone else’s copyright. At times, it will pick up a familiar hymn or song tune and identify the same tune in its database, even though the words or the language may differ from the version that it has on file.
The algorithm will not have recognised that the music used in your service or reflection is a different recording, and it may therefore automatically flag the use of the music as an infringement.
What should I do?
A parish can dispute a copyright strike through the process outlined here and in the video below:
When logging an objection, you will need to assert that you have permission from the copyright owner of the recording (which is usually provided through your copyright licence), and that the words and music are in the public domain. It is helpful to suggest that a mistake has been made, and also to bear in mind that this has probably been caused by an electronic process rather than any personal objection to your parish’s worship or ministry.
YouTube will refer your objection to the copyright owner for a response. Sometimes, the owner will release the music relatively quickly but, at other times, the objection will be logged for 30 days; the owner’s rights will lapse if they do not dispute their rights during this time.
Disputing a strike is important
If a significant number of people challenge a particular takedown notice, YouTube will recognise that the process is being unfair and develop a more selective algorithm. So, by disputing a strike, even if this has to be done repeatedly, you can help to improve the way in which YouTube works for all parishes and other local churches which have come across the same problem.
More guidance on organising online services and audio–visual content within the Church of Ireland is available on our website here. If you have any queries, please email press@ireland.anglican.org