You Can't Just Use Whatever You Want. Here's What You Can.
Every week, a creator loses their channel, gets a copyright strike, or faces a legal threat because they used someone else's work without understanding the rules. It's not always malicious — sometimes it's a background music track they thought was "fair use," a stock photo they grabbed from Google Images, or a clip from another video they thought was short enough to count as a reference.
Copyright law is confusing, and the internet is full of contradictory advice. This guide breaks down what you can and can't use as a content creator, in plain English, based on how the rules actually work in practice (not how people wish they worked).
The Basics: What Copyright Actually Means
Copyright is a legal protection that gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to how it's used, copied, distributed, and adapted. This applies to:
- Videos — including YouTube videos, movies, TV shows, sports broadcasts
- Music — songs, instrumental tracks, sound recordings
- Images — photographs, illustrations, graphics, designs
- Text — articles, blog posts, books, scripts
- Software — code, applications, plugins
Key point: copyright exists automatically when someone creates something original. They don't need to register it or put a © symbol on it. The moment someone creates an original photo, song, or video, they own the copyright.
This means you cannot assume something is free to use just because it's on the internet, doesn't have a watermark, or doesn't say "copyright." Most content online IS copyrighted.
Fair Use: What It Actually Means
"Fair use" is the most misunderstood concept in content creation. Let's be clear about what it is and what it isn't.
Fair use is a legal defense, not a right. It means: "Yes, I used copyrighted material without permission, but my use is legally justified because..." It's something you argue in court if you get sued — not a guaranteed protection.
The four factors courts consider for fair use:
- Purpose and character of the use — Are you transforming the material? Adding new meaning, commentary, or criticism? Or just reposting it? Transformative use is more likely to be fair use.
- Nature of the copyrighted work — Using published works is more likely to be fair use than unpublished works. Using factual works is more likely to be fair use than creative works.
- Amount used — Using a small portion is more likely to be fair use than using the whole thing. But there's no magic number — using 5 seconds of a 3-minute song could still be infringement.
- Effect on the market — Does your use replace the original? If someone watches your video instead of buying/streaming the original, that weighs against fair use.
Here's the practical reality: reaction videos, commentary videos, and educational content that transforms copyrighted material have a stronger fair use argument. But content that simply reuploads, compiles, or plays copyrighted material without adding substantial original value is much less likely to qualify.
What You CAN Use Safely
Music
- YouTube Audio Library — free music and sound effects for YouTube videos, sorted by genre and mood
- Creative Commons music — music licensed under CC BY, CC BY-SA, or CC0 can often be used for free with attribution. Check the specific license terms.
- Royalty-free music services — platforms like Epidemic Sound, Artlist, and Uppbeat offer large libraries of music you can use in your videos for a subscription fee (typically $8-15/month)
- Public domain music — compositions whose copyright has expired (generally, works published before 1928 in the US). Note: a recording of a public domain song may still be copyrighted.
What to avoid: Using popular songs, even briefly, even with "no copyright" in the title. Content ID systems don't care about your fair use argument — they'll flag it automatically.
Images and Graphics
- Your own photos and designs — if you created it, you own it
- Stock photo sites — Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay offer free images under licenses that allow commercial use. Always check the specific license.
- Paid stock sites — Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc. Read the license carefully — standard licenses may have limitations on audience size or distribution
- Screenshots for commentary/criticism — showing a screenshot of a website or product for review purposes has a strong fair use argument
What to avoid: Google Images results are not free to use. Even images without watermarks are copyrighted. "I found it on Google" is not a legal defense.
Video Clips
- Public domain footage — government-produced content (NASA footage, C-SPAN footage) is often public domain
- Creative Commons videos — check Vimeo's CC library and similar platforms
- Pexels Videos and Pixabay Videos — free stock video footage for commercial use
What to avoid: Downloading clips from YouTube, movies, or TV shows, even for "reaction" content. The platform's automated systems will flag it regardless of your intent.
Text
- Facts and ideas — copyright protects expression, not ideas. You can write about the same topic as another article as long as you use your own words
- Brief quotes — quoting a small portion of text for commentary, criticism, or review is generally acceptable
- Public domain texts — books published before 1928 (in the US), government documents, and works explicitly released into the public domain
What to avoid: Copying paragraphs, recipes, or entire sections from other websites, blogs, or books. Even with attribution, this can be copyright infringement.
Platform-Specific Copyright Issues
YouTube
YouTube's Content ID system is automated and aggressive. It scans uploaded videos against a database of copyrighted works and can:
- Block your video entirely in certain countries or worldwide
- Monetize your video and redirect revenue to the copyright holder
- Mute the audio portion
- Issue a copyright strike — three strikes and your channel is terminated
Content ID doesn't evaluate fair use. It flags based on pattern matching. If your video is flagged, you can file a dispute — but the process can take weeks and is stressful.
Best practice: use only music and footage that you have clear rights to. Don't rely on fair use with YouTube's automated systems.
TikTok
TikTok's approach is different. The platform licenses music from major labels, so you can use popular songs in your TikToks without copyright issues (the platform has already paid for the license). However:
- This only applies within TikTok — you can't use a TikTok with licensed music on other platforms
- Some songs have restricted use (can't be used in ads or branded content)
- Original sound recordings (like a clip from a movie or podcast) are still restricted
Instagram's Reels has a music library similar to TikTok's. You can use licensed music in Reels for organic (non-branded) content. But for sponsored or branded content, you need to use royalty-free or licensed music. Feed posts and Stories have different rules — original audio is always safest.
When You Need Permission (and How to Get It)
If you want to use copyrighted material and fair use doesn't clearly apply, you need a license or permission from the copyright holder. This is common for:
- Using someone's photo — email the photographer and ask for permission. Many are happy to grant it in exchange for attribution
- Using music not in the YouTube Audio Library — purchase a license from the artist or a royalty-free platform
- Featuring someone else's video clip — get written permission via email
- Collaborations — have a written agreement about who owns the resulting content
Keep records of all permissions. A simple email saying "Yes, you can use my photo in your YouTube video with credit to [my handle]" is sufficient as proof of permission.
Quick Reference: Can I Use This?
- Music from YouTube Audio Library → Yes (for YouTube videos)
- Popular song playing in the background → No (Content ID will flag it)
- Photo from Unsplash/Pexels → Yes (check the license)
- Photo from Google Images → Probably not (assume it's copyrighted)
- Clip from another YouTube video → Risky (Content ID + potential strike)
- NASA footage → Yes (US government works are public domain)
- Text from another blog post → No (write your own version)
- A fact or statistic → Yes (facts aren't copyrighted)
- Stock photo with a purchased license → Yes (follow the license terms)
- Someone else's logo → Avoid (trademark issues, not just copyright)
When in doubt, don't use it. The risk of a copyright strike, demonetization, or legal action isn't worth using one piece of content. Create your own or use clearly licensed alternatives.