The Basics to Avoiding Copyright Strikes On Your Social Media Accounts

Creating content that fuel your social media needs has never been easier and the production of any output can be completed with a minimum of fuss. So whenever you are putting together a great video post or sending out a new podcast, you may not take adequate notice of what perils may lay in store.

Given that we are pretty much glued to our devices 24/7, we can sometimes get caught up in the moment. You may be looking to become a key influencer and feel that you need to jazz up your content with a great musical soundtrack or you may just post something with extreme haste because you want to be ahead of the curve, but beware.

Posting content that includes copyright protected material, be that music of video, could well lead to a great deal of pain and suffering. The financial penalties for doing so are pretty huge and in some cases you could be risking imprisonment. 

However there is the additional, more likely, scenario which would involve you receiving a copyright strike on your account.

What is a Copyright Strike?

A copyright strike is one that is issued by an organization, in this case a social media channel such as YouTube, Facebook or TikTok, and you’ll receive this if they either believe you have committed a copyright offence or they’ve been informed that you have done so.

A strike in this instance is most likely to come in the form of a DMCA notice, the DMCA in this instance stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When receiving this strike you will be asked to prove you have the license needed to use the copyright protected media, such as music or video you may have used in your social media post.

On receiving these strikes, and some networks allow more than one before they act, you will be given a warning. However it’s likely that repeated violations will lead to your account being suspended and then deleted.

You Will Not Get Away With It

You may think that you can go ‘under the radar’ with your illegal use of copyright material but technology used by the likes of Facebook can single out these uses within a matter of seconds and the violations are dealt with on the spot.

Even if you feel you have been unfairly treated, perhaps believing that the music you are using was clear for use, the chances of you entering into a dialogue with any social media company are slim.

Most social networks make the prospect of reversing such copyright strikes next to impossible, they do so for two reasons. Firstly they know that entering into a conversation about potential violations would be hugely resource heavy for their site and secondly they don’t benefit from the resolution either way.

In other words the social media networks are more keen on avoiding any repercussions from mainstream music publishers of film production companies than assisting you in a case that is likely to fail.

How to Avoid a Copyright Strike?

The most common reason a social media user will use copyright protected music is that they feel that the use of a strong piece of music, or a sound effect, will increase the chance of their product being spread and virality achieved. 

However there are many great royalty-free music options where you can secure great songs and effects for a fraction of the cost of securing a license from recognized artists. 

Another additional benefit of subscribing to such a service is the vast libraries of great musical content that you have available, all to suit whatever need you wish to serve.

Royalty-free music providers essentially give you access, for a very small fee, to content that is free to be used as you wish and without any fear of a penalty or removal from the sites you use them on.

A big key to avoiding a copyright strike on the whole is the use of caution. Always be aware that whatever you post on your social media channels will be monitored and therefore behave with as much care as you possibly can.

A copyright strike isn’t something you can ignore and it’s something you should do your utmost to avoid. If you receive a strike it’s almost certainly justified and with any luck you may be fortunate to get away with a stern warning but more and more often this will result in a ban and possible additional censure and punishment.

If you are an individual who is seeking to become an influencer, or have a large audience who already follows your output, you simply can’t afford to be taken off the channels that you operate on, it’s simply not worth the risk or hassle.

Also, if you simply use social media for personal use, you still will greatly miss these channels if you are banned from using them. Always err on the side of vigilance when using any accompanying material for your posts, otherwise you may get a nasty surprise the next time you try to sign in to your accounts…