Music copyright rules for YouTube creators

Music copyright rules for YouTube creators, for this catalog, fit on one page. The binding text is still the license. This is the map.

The rules

• You may use an Arctaholic track in a video you made, including a monetized video and a Short.
• Credit is optional. The line, if you want it, is in how to credit.
• Arctaholic will not claim that use. A claim and a strike are different: claim vs strike.
• If a claim appears anyway, email the video URL and the track name to arctaholic@gmail.com. Do not dispute on a guess: false copyright claim.
• There is no seconds rule that clears someone else’s song. See fair use.
• Do not re-upload the song, post a lyric video, remix it, or put it in an ad. Those pages: reupload, remix, ads.

YouTube’s own pages are the authority for how the site behaves: claims and strikes.

Pick a track from the songs page after the rules, not before.

Music copyright rules for YouTube creators, in the order you will meet them

Music copyright rules for YouTube creators show up in a fixed order, and skipping ahead is how channels get hurt.

First, before upload: whose song is this? If it is an Arctaholic track and your video is yours, the license is the rule. If it is a commercial song, you do not have a rule on this site that clears it. Take it out.

Second, the description: subject of the video first, optional credit second. The credit names the song and links the track. It does not say Arctaholic made your video.

Third, Studio after publish: look at the copyright column once, the same day. A claim is a video problem. A strike is a channel problem. YouTube’s claim help and strike help are the two pages worth keeping open. Email arctaholic@gmail.com with the URL and the track name if the claim is on a licensed use. Do not dispute first.

Fourth, the next video: the same song is allowed again. A music-only upload is not allowed the second time either. Repeating a mistake does not turn it into a format.

Fifth, money from a brand: organic videos and paid ads are different permissions. The map on this page is for the organic video. The ad needs a written yes.

Print the order on a card above the desk if you upload often. Whose song, then the description, then the copyright column the same day, then the next video on the same rules, then a separate yes before any ad. The card is five lines. The license page is the link on line one when the song is from this catalog. The two YouTube help pages are the links on line three. The email address is the action on line three when the column is not empty. You do not need a longer checklist. You need to do this one in order, including on the week you are in a hurry.

Questions

Do these rules apply off YouTube?

The license also covers the other creator platforms listed on it. YouTube’s claim system does not. Read multiple platforms.

Where is the full legal text?

The license, plus privacy and terms for the site itself.