Help Center – Copyright and Inappropriate Content

What is your policy on copyright infringement?: YouTube respects the rights of copyright holders and publishers and requires all members to affirm that they hold the copyright or have permission for the content that they upload. If we receive a notice that content infringes another party's copyright, the member's account may be terminated and the content will be removed from YouTube. For more information about YouTube's copyright policy, read Copyright Tips.
What are you doing to prevent copyrighted content from appearing in YouTube?: Since all content on YouTube is posted by our members, we make it clear in our terms of use and at the time of upload that they must own the copyright to the videos they post or have permission from the copyright holder. We take copyright issues very seriously and encourage copyright holders to contact us if they have any objections about specific videos—we will cooperate with them to take down any infringing content immediately. Repeat and flagrant offenders of the terms of use are addressed with proprietary technology.
How do I report copyright infringement?: If you believe that someone else has uploaded your copyrighted content without your permission, please contact us to submit a copyright notification.
What if I have been falsely accused of copyright infringement?: We'll let you know if we receive a copyright complaint about any of your video content that is hosted on YouTube. We'll also give you the opportunity to file a DMCA counter-notification.
How do I report inappropriate videos?: If you see a video that you think is inappropriate based on our terms of use, you can report it to us for review by clicking the "Inappropriate" link at the bottom of the page.
How does YouTube handle inappropriate content?: Our community understands the terms of use and effectively polices the site for inappropriate content (similar to other open internet communities such as eBay and craigslist). Their vigilance combined with our proprietary technology helps us to enforce our community standards.