BEWARE!! Everything A Short Filmmaker Needs To Know About Copyright Claims

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Your Film Might Have A Copyright Claim!!

By Saif Hyder


While I am writing this blog, surely someone out there must have uploaded their film on YouTube for public sharing or maybe an unlisted link just to showcase their work to select people without realizing that their film might have a copyright claim. Being in the business of distribution its very key to understand how a copyright claim might affect your films overall being. This article shall help filmmakers understand the overall working of copyrights saving them a lot of time & extra money for the last minute hustle. 

What Is Copyright Claim?

In simple terms, A copyright claim is issued when you’ve uploaded something that you do not own the copyright to. YouTube is one ideal platform since it being one of the largest video search engine globally, to know whether or not your film has a copyright claim or not.

Understanding this is crucial as these days Copyrights can literally pull down your work irrespective of how good it may be. 

When Does It Occur?

It usually occurs when you're using any snippet of a song from a music label or music from the YouTube library which is not copyright free. Many times filmmakers like to put up just a light music in the background for the scene or just something that matches the tone of it & add credits to the music artist. However most of the music artists are being managed by the labels or probably they may have taken copyrights to some of their work resulting in the occurence of the copyright claim on your video. Hence just by adding the name in credits do not work since the artist does not own its rights. 

Whats The Process To Stay Copyright Free?

Ideally in case if you wish to use any music / song snippet for your film, the right way is to have a communication in black & white whereby both the parties can agree to the usage & shall not in future hamper during the films future proceedings. Just by merely adding a 'Thank You' note consent towards the end or beginning of your film would not save you. Hence its essential to have a clear way of communication for avoiding hindrances. Best is to create your own composition or opt for a complete copyright free option after understanding its usage terms.

How to know whether your film has a copyright claim?

1. Upload your video on Youtube, preferable to keep it private initially


2. Click the Content Section on your Dashboard
3. Under the column Restrictions it would show 'Copyright Claim' or 'None'. In case if it shows copyright claim then you can further check on what the claim has been raised for (image below).





You can check on whose the copyright owner, the duration of the claim & the artist as well. While the options suggested by YouTube to defend aren't very viable as it may just impact the overall scene of your film, hence its ideal to re-compose that chunk.

Its very unfortunate that lacs of film go to festivals across the globe & some win as well without getting to know that their film has a copyright claim.

Repercussions of having Copyright Claim
The copyright owner has the right to pull down your film from whichever platform its being showcased upon, all they need is draft a mail to immediately get it down. They might even shoot you with some penalty, which most likely does not apply in case for short films. Whatever their action, its better to be sure & run a safe ride. 

Feel free to share your opinion or thoughts in the comments below & if you have found this article helpful then kindly share / spread the word. 


About CineShorts Premiere:
Cineshorts Premiere is India's Premiere Short Film Distribution platform showcasing the work of independent filmmakers. We help expand your films reach. Our shorts are currently being showcased across various platforms like MX Player, Disney+Hotstar, Airtel Xstream, Hungama Play, Shorts TV & Discover Films besides being on our channel. Besides distribution, we also help filmmakers with PR for their films, review write-ups.

For film submissions kindly reach us at: thecineshorts@gmail.com 


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