Someone used my music in their YouTube video without a license. Should I use Content ID or a DMCA takedown?

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They are different tools with different consequences. A Content ID claim is YouTube's automated match: depending on the rights holder's settings it blocks the video, monetizes it by running ads (sometimes sharing revenue with the uploader) or just tracks its viewership, and YouTube says claims usually do not impact the uploader's channel and are not copyright strikes. Access is narrow: YouTube grants Content ID to owners with exclusive rights to a substantial body of original material that is frequently uploaded, and excludes music licensed without exclusivity, remixes, compilations and recordings of performances. Everyone else gets the copyright removal webform (youtube.com/copyright_complaint_form) and the Copyright Match Tool in YouTube Studio. A webform request is a DMCA notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c): it needs your contact details, a description of your work, the video URLs and the good-faith and penalty-of-perjury statements. A valid request removes the video and gives the uploader a copyright strike, and they receive your name and email address. YouTube lets you schedule the removal to take effect in 7 days so the uploader can act first, and asks you to consider whether fair use applies. If they counter-notify, the video can return in 10 to 14 business days (§ 512(g)(2)(C)) unless you sue. Build the request at https://takeitdown.agentexchange.work/request/dmca (free; you send it, the deadline is tracked).

Someone used my music in their YouTube video without a license. Should I use Content ID or a DMCA takedown?

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