Freesound Forums
use of sounds for youtube
Started September 14th, 2019 · 6 replies · Latest reply by strangely_gnarled 5 years, 2 months ago
hello
I recently used a sound on this site that was licensed under the 0 commons licence and my video now has a copyright claim on it by another youtube creator who must have also used this sound and then copyrighted it.Is this legal, I was under the impression 0 common licence made it public domain and use of it for any means including for making money was allowed.
This is an unfortunate consequence of systems such as "YouTube Content ID Scanning", which can be summarized here:
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2822002?hl=en
In short, a lot of the sound effects from this site are being used "raw" in songs ("raw" which means "unchanged"; so without any editing, extra FX plugins, etc. things that change the sound).
So if an artist creates a song that contains all of, or even a snippet of, a "raw" sound effect from this site, and then the artist also submits their song to the YouTube Content ID Scanning system, then if another person uses the same sound effect in a YouTube video, the ID scan will discover a match. If the sound was modified with plugins, stretched or slowed, etc., then the system is less likely to find a match.
Now I'm not sure what happens next, but either the system automatically copyright claims the new YouTube video, or the artist/publisher gets notified that a video has been uploaded that has a match with their submitted song (and they then manually claim the video).
Either way, I have found several YouTube videos (which contain the "raw" sound effects uploaded here) being claimed by artist labels and publishers, stating that the video uses a snippet of their song (when in reality, it is the other way around). And after checking their song, indeed, I find the sound effect being used there.
Most often this can be (and has been) resolved by disputing the copyright claim and explaining the situation.
As to whether it is legal for them to claim CC0 sounds, probably not. But there's isn't much else we can do at the moment to resolve it.
InspectorJ has highlighted and explained a very clear reason why many up-loaders are getting unwarranted copyright dispute notices.
It might be helpful if a new section could be made in FAQ/Licenses/- copyright disputes, to collate all the sensible advice/information scattered through the forum.
Putting this kind of information there, with hints at dispute resolution pathways, might save some posters having to wait (with fingers crossed) for a response to a post.
It might also unwind the (quite natural) sense of paranoia that some evil artist is purposefully 'stealing' their creation when it's actually a 'bug' in the machinery of the internet and the CC system.
Not trying to make extra work for the freesound team, but it might save time and effort in the long run. A 'wiki' type suggestion system, with members able to offer improvements and additions for the fs team's consideration (via private message?) may help keep it up to date in a rapidly evolving environment.
My suggestion to add to the FAQ:-
If you are defending a copyright issue and the date you uploaded your sound, as recorded on freesound, predates the published date of the other 'contestant' your claim is clearly more justified.
(Another scenario - both party's obtained the sound from a third/fourth etc source. This would not however give either a claim over the other for the sound so the above still stands.)
My (long winded) thoughts,
Wibby
strangely_gnarled wrote:
It might be helpful if a new section could be made in FAQ/Licenses/- copyright disputes, to collate all the sensible advice/information scattered through the forum.
InspectorJ wrote:
Added! - https://freesound.org/help/faq/#a-freesound-sound-i-used-in-a-youtube-video-got-copyright-claimed-what-should-i-do
Wow! That was quick! Most people use Sunday evening to unwind ready for the coming week.
Thanks InspectorJ.
Wibby