Posting Covers

Lina · March 2020

Is there a way to post one's cover song performances on Youtube and Facebook without getting in trouble for violating copyright rules? I see singers do it all the time, yet have not been able to upload audio to FB, and You Tube list of rules and regulations regarding copyright virtually leave nothing that would be allowable. How are singers getting around this? Thanks for any info on this.

Wigs · March 2020

I haven't looked but there is a list of songs on YouTube or Google's websites that will not give you a strike. My understanding is that if it's not a strike it can still be a copyright claim, it's happened to nearly every video I upload for the assignments. It's allowable but there is no monetisation, meaning if you get a million views for it you won't be able to make money. I reckon alot of those artists do it for exposure.

doc_ramadani · March 2020

Hi @Lina,

probably you will find some useful informations in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHh8nPj5SDY

Doc

Lina · March 2020

Doc what an eye opener! Hard to believe that everyone who posts covers is getting dinged. Unfortunately the clips I wanted to post are not in the allowable selections on YouTube.. Definitely don't want to risk it. Do you know if the same stringent rules apply to personal websites?

OliviaWenya · April 2020

Lina said:
Doc what an eye opener! Hard to believe that everyone who posts covers is getting dinged. Unfortunately the clips I wanted to post are not in the allowable selections on YouTube.. Definitely don't want to risk it. Do you know if the same stringent rules apply to personal websites?

They can hit you with a ton of DMCA takedown requests and lawyers, and they most likely will if they discover it since it's so profitable.

With uploading to Youtube (Google) and Fb, they are the ones hosting and being responsible for the content on their platforms even though the ToS say you are, so they immediately remove any content (If that is what the copyright owner wish, they may choose to get monetary benefits) that violates someone's copyright when it gets discovered and redirects the appealing process to the court (Copyright laws, have gaping grey areas with no prior ruling and judging if something violates it can be very complex), which you will have to fight if you uploaded the content in question to their platform.

If I recall correctly you need something called a mechanical licence in order to earn money from covering other peoples songs (in a non-live setting and without video), getting that licence also allows you to upload your covers to Spotify, Itunes and other platforms while earning money from that. If you are signed with a label they will take care of that part.

Now, why is Youtube dinging our dear Beato even though his content is clearly educational? Because Youtube doesn't judge it, that is outsourced to the courts

So Rick Beato would have to have a court rule his content as educational before Youtube allows him to receive his Adsense.

Why cover songs can remain on youtube specifically without you getting hit by lawyers has a lot to do with early youtube history, it's relations with pirated material and how profitable it's for the copyright owners because of the ad revenue. So you lose the money from it, but you also don't have to deal with lawyers unless you plan to appeal.

There are ways to receive a large chunk of ad revenue from Youtube even though your covers get claimed, but that is a topic for another time.

The best way I've found to not get hit with a horde of copyright lawyers if uploading your content to a Chinese platform since western companies have a hard time to get things through over there xD

Posting Covers

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