Your TV Show Was Uploaded to YouTube Without Permission: What Can You Do?

The internet is a tricky place — while platforms like YouTube have become the main source of income for many content creators, they also make it easy for unauthorized users to upload your content without permission. It’s very likely that you might wake up one day, only to find your copyrighted TV show uploaded on YouTube for thousands to see without your consent. What can you do in this situation? Do you have the right to take action and claim your ownership over your content? That’s exactly what we’re here to answer. Read on to know how you can tackle an unauthorized upload of your content on YouTube and protect your intellectual property in a better way.

Why Does Piracy Happen on YouTube?

Before we jump directly to how-tos, let’s first understand why someone would want to steal your TV show without your consent and upload it on YouTube.

Monetization: If your TV show has a good viewership, chances are that some users will try to upload copies of it to generate revenue from YouTube’s Partner Program.

Exposure and Engagement: Is it possible that your TV show fans might attempt to upload full episodes to maintain a fan-base and gain more subscribers.

Lack of Awareness: It might sound surprising, but most users who attempt to upload unauthorized content don’t even fully understand the concept of ownership and assume that publicly uploaded content is up for grabs.

Deliberate Piracy: In this case, the user knows the content is copyrighted and shares it intentionally to bypass paid subscriptions and streaming fee.

Step-by-Step Guide to Removing Pirated Content from YouTube

No matter what the reason is, if the content of your TV show is being shared without your permission, you have the legal right to take it down. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Locate the Pirated Content

Go to YouTube and start searching for any unauthorized upload for your TV show. The best way to do this is to make a list of the URLs where your content appears.

2. Confirm Copyright Ownership

When filling a takedown request, YouTube asks you to provide proof of ownership. Therefore, make sure you hold the copyright of the content or the authority to make a decision on behalf of the copyright holder before you make a claim.

3. Use YouTube Copyright’s Infringement Reporting Tool

Luckily, YouTube has a dedicated tool that manages the reporting of copyright violations. Here’s how you can use it:

• Visit YouTube’s Copyright Complaint Page - https://www.youtube.com/copyright_complaint_form
• Add in URLs of the videos that you want to remove.
• Share information of the copyright owner (in this case, yourself).
• Select a removal option (standard or scheduled).
• Check all the legal agreements and provide your signature affirming all the information you provided.

Submit the Claim

Once you provide all the necessary information along with your signature, click on “Submit” at the top right. Your takedown request has been submitted and YouTube will take action against unauthorized content once it finishes reviewing your claim.

Keep an Eye Out for the Future

Taking action against pirated content doesn’t mean the unauthorized content cannot resurface again. Therefore, always keep an eye out for copyright violations of your TV show. And there you have it – an easy step-by-step guide to challenge and take down pirated copies of your TV show on YouTube. You can either do it yourself, or take help from Warezio, a copyright protection and security platform that helps content creators like you protect their content. Warezio saves you time and ensures your original content remains under your ownership. Visit them here: https://warezio.com/