{"id":1315,"date":"2021-07-27T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/?p=1315"},"modified":"2021-12-20T23:04:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T20:04:58","slug":"how-to-use-copyrighted-music-on-youtube-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/how-to-use-copyrighted-music-on-youtube-the-right-way","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Copyrighted Music on YouTube the Right Way","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How to Check if a Song is Copyrighted on YouTube<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Copyrighted<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll discuss your options in more detail below, but in short, you have three options for making sure you\u2019re using music legally. The first place you should go to check if a song or sound clip can be used is HERE, at the creative commons. If it\u2019s not there or under the public domain then most likely it can\u2019t be legally used for free. Public domain music is that which was written on or before 1925.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it should be noted that copyright protects \u201ccompositions\u201d and \u201csound recordings\u201d separately, meaning a 2021 version of Rhapsody in Blue<\/em> could be under copyright protection even though the composition is in the public domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this probably isn\u2019t the answer you want to hear, it\u2019s the truth. Lastly, you can look for music that is royalty-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of music in YouTube videos is an important part of any YouTube channel, but the fact of the matter is that YouTube music copyright rules are rather strict. YouTube\u2019s algorithms and content ID matching are so advanced that they can detect copyrighted music easily, even in the background of other sounds. That means that figuring out how to use music on YouTube without infringing on copyright can be quite tricky. Luckily, there are a few rules of thumb you should keep in mind so that you can better understand what music you can use on YouTube. Let\u2019s take a closer look at your options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music That is Under Public Domain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The easiest way to legally use music in YouTube videos is to use songs that are listed under Public Domain. This typically refers to songs that no longer fall under copyright. They are a great way to use music in YouTube videos without breaking YouTube\u2019s music copyright rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, there are a lot of databases<\/a> available online that can show you which songs qualify as Public Domain. That makes these songs a great way to use music in YouTube videos legally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music that is Royalty-Free<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"YouTube<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re asking yourself if you can use royalty-free music on YouTube, the answer is yes! This is another simple method of how to add music to a YouTube Video without copyright issues. It\u2019s a popular option among content creators as royalty-free songs do not limit you to music from the last century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might now be thinking to yourself, \u201cIs free stock music safe?\u201d The answer is that it depends, but usually it is. While most royalty-free music is stock music, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that all stock music is free or royalty-free. Which means you should be careful when perusing stock music databases as they won\u2019t all be royalty-free. While some websites will gladly sell you the proper assets and licenses, not all of them have permission to be freely used in YouTube videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you\u2019re still asking yourself if you can use royalty-free music on YouTube or if you can use unlicensed music on YouTube, the answer is yes. You just need to be careful that the databases or platforms you grab your songs from truly are royalty-free and not just any kind of stock audio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music that is Under Creative Commons Licenses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While this option is not as popular as the previous two, it can still be a useful one to keep in mind when learning how to use copyrighted music on YouTube. Songs that are under CCL are copyrighted but can still be used without penalty as long as the specific guidelines and restrictions are abided by. This can be something as simple as only using specific sections of a song or only playing a song for a few seconds at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is a bit more of a hassle, it can be a good way to use specific songs that are both modern and popular to give your YouTube video the extra flavor that it needs. If you want to learn how to find out if a song is copyrighted or CCL then that requires heading over to the specific sites that list the CCL tracks. You\u2019ll then be able to figure out how to tell if a song is copyrighted or not. It\u2019s also good practice to save all licensing agreements you obtain as they can act as useful receipts of your purchased assets, should you ever need to prove to YouTube you obtained them legally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finding out if a song is under copyright can get tricky at times, but if you follow the above tips, you should be able to work it out for any songs you\u2019re thinking about adding to your videos. Hopefully, this article has helped you with using music in YouTube videos legally. Good luck with your channel and don\u2019t forget to add some (legal) tunes!<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being a content creator on YouTube is super fun and rewarding, but it\u2019s not without its complications. YouTubers have been experiencing a common yet serious issue as of late: figuring out how to use copyrighted music on YouTube. Some of the most common questions YouTubers have been asking lately is: what music can I use on YouTube? Is free stock music safe to use? Or similar inquiries like, how to use music in YouTube videos legally? If you want to find out how to know if a song is copyrighted, you\u2019ve come to the right place!<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":1,"featured_media":1435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[18,68,44,78],"class_list":["post-1315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creators","tag-copyrights","tag-creatoreconomy","tag-creators","tag-mubertrender"],"aioseo_notices":[],"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"link","format":"url"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2166,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions\/2166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mubert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}