What is Content ID?

Content ID is a popular digital fingerprinting system that content creators can use to easily identify and manage their copyrighted content on YouTube. Videos uploaded to YouTube are compared against audio and video files registered with Content ID by content owners, looking for any matches.

When a video is matched to Content ID registered content, a copyright notice will appear on the video, and the content owner may choose to take certain actions, such as:

• Clearing the claim and taking no further action
• Tracking the video’s viewership statistics
• Monetizing the video by running ads against it
• Muting the audio that matches their music
• Or even blocking a whole video from being viewed

What is AdRev?

AdRev (and other companies such as Audiam, TuneCore, etc) are YouTube Partner platforms that use the Content ID system to manage and administer this copyrighted content on behalf of content owners. They in turn provide users with various information such as which videos their content is used in, tracking of unauthorized uses, viewership reports, and distribution of any monetization earnings.

How does this relate to AudioJungle music?

Many online based music composers, including some of those that sell licenses to their music via AudioJungle, have their content digitally fingerprinted via Content ID to help protect against unauthorized uses, and also use these YouTube Partner platforms to administer and manage their content.

We provide license certificates and purchase codes for all purchases on Envato Market, including AudioJungle music, so should a copyright notice appear on a video containing music that is tracked by Content ID, it can be easily cleared and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

What does this mean for me and my YouTube projects?

When a video is uploaded to YouTube that contains licensed, digitally fingerprinted music, a “matched third party content” copyright notice will appear alongside the uploaded video in the YouTube Video Manager (this typically appears shortly after uploading).

A copyright notice does not mean that copyrights have been infringed, and this shouldn’t be confused with a YouTube “copyright strike”. It’s simply a notice to advise that YouTube has detected Content ID registered content within the video, and that further information/action is needed.

Again, if you’ve licensed the music from AudioJungle, you will be easily able to clear this notice and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Why are there ads running on my videos?

When unauthorized/unlicensed use of music is found in a YouTube video, it may have monetized ads placed over it by the YouTube Content ID system. Once you’ve used your AudioJungle license certificate to clear any copyright notices on your video, these ads will go away and you will be able to monetize the video yourself if you wish.

For more tips on quickly and easily clearing these notices, such as how you can upload an unlisted video to clear them in advance, see the “How to clear a YouTube copyright notice” section below.

How do I know if an item is registered with Content ID?

If a track is registered and digitally fingerprinted with Content ID, it will be called out in the item description on the item page, as in the image below:

Additionally, on the item page sidebar you’ll see an attribute for “YouTube Content ID Registered: Yes/No”, as well as which partner platform the Content ID is administered by, if any:

Please Note: This is a new policy as of April 2015, and it may take some time for all authors to add this Content ID information to their existing items. In the meantime, you can still check the item description as many registered authors already provide a note about YouTube & Content ID, and if in doubt you can always contact the author directly via their profile page to find out.

How to clear a YouTube copyright notice

Clearing a YouTube copyright notice is a very straightforward process. You can remove copyright notices in the following ways:

1. Disputing the claim via YouTube’s built-in form.
2. If the music is administered via AdRev, using the AdRev Claim Clearance page is the quickest and most direct way to clear a claim.  AdRev will send you an email confirmation once it has been cleared.
3. Or by contacting the author directly via their AudioJungle profile page with a link to your YouTube video, where they can further assist with having the copyright notices removed as quickly as possible.

To clear a claim via YouTube, you simply need to let YouTube know that you have licensed the music and have the rights to use it. Simply choose to "dispute" the claim by clicking the “matched third party content”copyright notice next to the video in your Video Manager, or on your dedicated copyright notices page. After you click “file a dispute”, select the option "I have a license or written permission from the proper rights holder to use this material".