iMusician AG is contesting the copyright of my song on YouTube

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1

Hello, I uploaded a video to YouTube showcasing my new single, and immediately YouTube notified me of a copyright dispute from iMusician and Sound Devices (which is my own label…) regarding the song’s rights. YouTube claimed this wouldn’t affect visibility. The next day, I checked and saw that my view count had been reset to 0 and there was almost no exposure from YouTube (i.e., my video wasn’t being shown to viewers).

So I filed a complaint, since I am the sole author, composer, and producer of the track, which was released in a different mix in 2023 through iMusician. The song is registered with SACEM.

I sent the complaint to YouTube, and to my surprise, today YouTube confirmed that iMusician is maintaining its claim and rejecting my complaint. Could you quickly explain the confusion? (YouTube warned me that if the complaint persists, the channel could be closed…).

Thank you

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2

Why did you file a complaint? These copyright claims are normal since we’re monetizing the content for you: Why did I receive a copyright claim from iMusician on YouTube? | iMusician

SACEM registration is a completey different topic, unrelated to this matter.

3

I filed this complaint:

  1. because I didn’t know about iMusician monetizing YouTube videos for us (why not).
  2. it was the third time I released a video and the first time I got this message.
  3. the way that YouTube explains the thing is unclear and worrying. For example they say (see image) “il est possible que le titulaire des droits d’auteur ne soit pas d’accord avec votre contestation”. The expression “droits d’auteur” is confusing because in French it is related to the songwriting rights, that’s why I talked about Sacem. And the sentence suggests that the “droits d’auteur” holder and me are two different persons…

After reading the linked article you posted here, I think there will be no problem but I will remain vigilant.

See you soon

4

Ok, I understand that YouTube’s way of phrasing this may be confusing!

I suppose they use the general term droits d’auteur to cover most scenarios (such claims can also come from publishers, not only distributors) but in your specific case I can confirm the claim is only related to the neighbouring rights of your recordings. As a digital music distributor we do not claim any publishing royalties on your music.

Now that you know about this, you can simply ignore these messages as they’re only letting your know we’re monetizing the content on your behalf. These claims do not lead to any strike or have any impact on your YouTube channel :slight_smile:

All the best,