There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of songs on youtube.
What steps should I take to upload and not get my account in trouble? What are all those other people doing to appease the youtube monitors? I’d really like to avoid getting one of their harassing emails.
Are there steps that can be taken to legitimately upload a song?
Is this:
A. A song you wrote, or
B. A song somebody else wrote that you performed, or
C. A song somebody else wrote and performed
Must be A, or B with copyright holder’s permission. C will generally cause trouble–even if it gets past Youtube you could get a cease-and-desist order from the copyright holder.
What puzzles me is practically any popular song recorded in the past 60 years is on youtube. I’m just not sure how people do it without getting hassled.
One thing I want to post would be some cover songs that I’m recording. I won’t be using any prerecorded tracks. Good or bad it’ll be my own musical efforts. I’ve seen a lot of cover songs of everybody from John Denver to hard rock on youtube. They seem to be acceptable.
No, it’s because they’re so shitty no one wants to lay claim to 'em. 
Youtube uses automatic algorithms to determine if a song is copyrighted. Therefore, if you upload today’s top pop hit, it will be recognized and the uploader gets a “copyright strike”, a black mark against their account. This is to the dismay of many gamers on Youtube. For example, a Youtuber I follow was playing Saints Row 4 and had to mute all the audio because there are copyrighted songs as part of the game. Since his channel is monetized (he makes money off the ads that go along with his videos) including copyrighted music is strictly verboten even in this kind of situation. The algorithm doesn’t care about context.
I have no proof of this but I am also certain there is someone at every major record label who has a full-time job scouring Youtube for material that the label didn’t put there.
What happens kind of depends on the specific entity that owns the copyright on the music you’re using.
I’ve done covers myself, although only this one of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” had a deal w/YT via the omnipresent Harry Fox Agency, which is a go-between for YT and a zillion different record companies & music publishers.*
It was thus noticed by YouTube rather quickly thanks to their algorithm. But in my case, all that was required was YT giving me the option of allowing ads on my video or taking it down. (Many publishers have a deal with YT to monetize videos that are in their copyright, so presumably the ad revenue goes to the copyright owner, with a percentage going to YT as well. Not that my stupid little video and its tiny viewership gives much coinage to anyone, but it’s what they wanted and seemed a fair exchange, so I don’t mind.) No ding to my record as far as I can see.
If you really want to be legit as possible, you need to contact the copyright holders and request both the mechanical rights (required for just recording a cover song, and usually involves a relatively low fee especially if you’re not charging anything for the cover) and synchronization rights (required for a video of your recording–because you’re synching your music with video elements and that’s a different sort of license).
Or you can give it a try and see if they have a deal with YT for monetization, as happened with me. One ding on your record isn’t a killer, I don’t believe–but they add up very quickly and YT will close your channel, so do be careful.
I have uploaded home videos to my YouTube account where I used clips of songs as background music and they got flagged as copyright violations. However, YouTube did not prevent me from uploading them. I did get a warning that the videos would not be allowed to be viewed in certain countries, IIRC, and also that other limitations would apply to how I could my account (don’t remember the details).
As to all those copyrighted songs blatantly posted, not sure how those are policed. Some of course were posted as promotions by the artist but some are just fans posting their favorites songs.
There is a guy who did an experiment to find out how good the detection algorithms are. The recording had to be degraded to a surprising degree before YouTube was unable to detect a match.
Then, if YouTube has an algorithm that recognizes copyrighted material, how is it possible that I have dozens of Playlists with hundreds of songs on them, which remain intact for years and years? Every once in a while a song disappears from my playlist, usually because the uploader has been banned. There are a few artists that must have someone scanning YouTube on their behalf (like Freddy Fender and the Fifth Dimension) whose music gets kicked off fairly quickly.
Damn, it’s a short thread and still I get ignored!
I am not exaggerating (well, not by much) when I say that Harry Fox Agency, YT’s copyright reps, have deals with a zillion different publishers and labels. I will bet that if you go to your playlist of uploaded songs, 90% or more will have ads attached to them, usually banners overlaid on the video as well as the large box on the side of the player atop the similar results column. The copyright holders like the arrangement because they’re earning some cash off the otherwise copyright-breaking videos. YouTube likes the arrangement because they don’t really want to ban people–it means fewer views. They want a ton of videos and views.
Those missing songs are from uploaders who were banned were likely those who didn’t agree to the monetization, lied about having the copyright themselves, or had some other problem elsewhere on their channel.
Just a nitpick: the Harry Fox Agency doesn’t represent YouTube. It represents music publishers. It is a royalty-collecting organization.
I do not see the advertising you are talking about because, at least for the moment, they have not yet successfully defeated AdBlockPlus.
For the layman who is not personally involved in music copyrights, does that mean that virtually every user who has uploaded a music video to YouTube has first contacted Harry Fox (or somebody) to get clearance to upload it?
Wow, copyright enforcement seems pretty confusing on youtube. I don’t care if they put an ad on my video. I rather they didn’t but if thats what it takes to post a video.
choie thank you for the heads up on I’ll Be Home for Christmas. I want to record some holiday songs and share with my family. I’ll make a note to avoid that one. I’m pretty sure the old traditional songs like O’Come All Ye Faithful and We Wish You a Merry Christmas are public domain.
Thanks for the correction, Ascenray. Of course you’re right, I did indeed have it backwards–it’s the ‘official Youtube administrator’ for countless publishers, but that doesn’t mean it’s on YT’s payroll. So, I appreciate the nitpick!
BTW, as an aside, some time I would really like to pick your brain as far as copyright issues go, because you (along with Exapno Mapcase) are reliably on target whenever the topic pops up, and it’s always informative to read your comments.
That explains it. 
Almost certainly not. They are most likely just like yours truly. Youtube sent a note giving me the option to include ads or delete the video, and I said, “sure, ad me up, baby; it’s the least I can do if it’s someone else’s copyright.” (I paraphrase.)
I’m sure a notable (even if only a minority) percentage of the more professional or semi-pro bands who do actual covers are indeed contacting HFA or the other copyright holders directly. But I’m also quite sure most of us just accept the ads as a necessity if we want to use someone else’s material. It’s basically a free way for us to pay the royalties we owe. I’m perfectly fine with it, myself.
aceplace57, yes, I’d stay away from any of the "popular’ Christmas songs from the 20th century (stuff like “White Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and so on) as opposed to the traditional ones like “Adeste Fideles” or “Silent Night.” Even with them, if you’re not planning on using your own arrangement, I’d double-check to make sure the arrangement itself isn’t under copyright. But in general if you want to record yourself singing “Here We Come A-Wassailing,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” or “The Holly and the Ivy,” you’ll be fine.
Two interesting exceptions: “Twelve Days of Christmas.” It’s a traditional carol and thus everything’s public domain…* except* the “Five Gold Rings” line, believe it or not. That two-measure phrase is a relatively modern touch that’s copyrighted. The words aren’t original but the little tune that goes with 'em* is. So as long as you don’t use that particular tune --substitute any other notes you wish–you’re, um, golden.
The other is “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” This I could be wrong about, but… I believe the copyright nature here depends on which melody you use: the standard American version (which is perfectly kosher to use), or the British one, which uses a traditional tune that’s been rather liberally adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams. His version’s actually still under copyright, at least in the UK.
But honestly, while publishing it would be marginally more worrisome than just singing it, even then there’s little likelihood that you’d get a Cease and Desist from the owner. It’s been used generically for so long and they don’t appear to pursue violations. HOWEVER, since you’re asking about legit/correct practices, proper behavior would be to contact the owner. OTOH, you can just improvise off the original “Forest Green” tunewith your own arrangement and none’ll dare come after ye, since “Forest Green” is public domain. (That sheet music isn’t, of course.)
Thanks choie. I feel better about investing the time and work into filming some songs.