Did your Facebook video get muted? Are you worried about Facebook copyright strikes on your videos due to background music? Well, if that’s the case, you are not alone.
Using copyright-protected music with monetized Facebook videos has become a trend and Facebook has taken serious notice of it.
If you are also a Facebook advertiser or business page runner, here is your chance to get familiar with some basic music licensing usage terms on Facebook and instagram.
Using background music without a proper license in a Facebook video is surely not a campfire treat anymore. Facebook Rights Manager makes sure it protects the intellectual properties of the content creators by keeping a vigilant eye on their content matches on Facebook. It takes thousands of copyright infringement actions daily. A large majority of these actions are on BG music.
Getting highly aesthetic background music is certainly a draw if the prices are also affordable. One such option is royalty-free music by Foximusic or any other legit royalty free music library.
This article explains what falls under Facebook copyright infringement and what are the consequences and options for both the rights holder and uploader. We’ll explain in detail how showing even a little bit of a casual approach to BG music can cost you a big deal on promoting your business on Facebook.
| Table of contents
What is Facebook Content ID? (Rights Manager)
How Does Facebook’s Content ID System Work?
Copyrights VS Trademarks
How Facebook’s Rights Manager tool works? It discourages you from using others’ music
Why won’t Facebook let me upload my video and keep the volume?
How do I avoid copyright claims on Facebook?
You can get copyright strikes in the following cases
What happens if I get a copyright claim on Facebook? What are the consequences?
A simple breakdown of the procedure Facebook
I have received multiple video takedowns due to copyright claims, Can I still monetize my channel?
Facebook’s Dispute Resolution Process: Not enough for the alleged ‘Violators’
How do I post a video on Facebook without copyright issues?
Why royalty-free music?
The Final Story
What is Facebook Content ID? (Rights Manager)
Unlike YouTube, Facebook prefers to protect creators by tackling all kinds of infringements and not just those related to monetization. This is Facebook’s parallel of YouTube’s Content ID, The Facebook Rights Manager
Get hold, it poses even more serious copyright challenges to uploaders than YouTube.
How Does Facebook’s Content ID System Work?
The Content ID system of Facebook AKA The Rights Manager allows rights holders to upload and mark their content with their unique signature. Their content list may include music, images, videos, and even live streams.
That means, every creator maintains his reference content library and then Facebook vigilantly monitors it against any content match on Facebook. This way, every bit of their content strictly belongs to the creators.
That said, it’s the creators who define the precise rules of the game i.e. who uses what part of their content and to what extent. Whenever they identify any breach of their content use policy, they can immediately report it to Facebook which, in return, reaches out to the uploaders within no time. They then take copyright violation actions against the uploaders.
Yes, monetize or not, if there’s even a hint of intellectual property infringement by you, you are booked. And the system is so efficient that there’s hardly any chance for you to dodge Facebook.
The bottom line is, you need your own the right copyright usage.
Copyrights VS Trademarks
Intellectual property on Facebook can be of two main types: Copyright and Trademark.
Copyright is meant to encourage creativity and protects the intellectual property of creators by ensuring their exclusive rights on their content. The protection is provided under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the USA.
Whereas,
Trademark laws safeguard brands’ unique, self-made existence by protecting their recognized icons, signs, symbols, and everything that is exclusive to them. This category of intellectual property is meant to punish those uploaders who undeservingly exploit any other brand’s well-known insignia in a way that could confuse customers.
How Facebook’s Rights Manager tool works? It discourages you from using others’ music
The controversial thing about Facebook Rights Manager is how promptly it preempts any music rights violations. The irony is, oftentimes it may not be judged as a violation from an independent perspective, but Facebook’s standards are really tough. They just hold everything illegal. Yes, you don’t dare touch even a 17-second clip that’s not your own ‘recognized’ effort.
So, if you happen to use copyrighted music for Facebook & Instagram videos, it doesn’t even allow you to upload the content.
It uses a tool called Audible Magic that allows creators to fingerprint their music for copyright protection purposes. The audio works that can be made copyright-protected include songs, sound recordings, musical compositions, and even spoken word recordings.
Whenever someone posts a media file on Facebook that triggers a match on Audible Magic, Facebook blocks it or takes other options that we cover later on.
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Why won’t Facebook let me upload my video and keep the volume?
Even a fragment of copyrighted music won’t be spared by Facebook. So what do you think about clear violations?
Of course, Facebook takes action and mutes your video straightaway. That said, you’ll get warnings and your profile gets negative points as well.
In fact, according to the latest estimations, more than 68% of copyright violations on Facebook were about background music in the last three years. And guess what, the lion’s share of these violations included only minor infringements that other platforms wouldn’t even give another stare.
What happens with such a ‘notorious’ Facebook profile is a nightmare for serious brands.
How do I avoid copyright claims on Facebook?
Simply restrict yourself to upload licensed content that permits the use of that content on Facebook and Instagram , particularly background music.
That’s how you save your Facebook page from earning a bad name and getting costly penalties. Beware, on Facebook, if you are relying on any other option than your own music, you are sure to land yourself in trouble.
Actually, if there’s anything sneaky, there’s a little margin by which you can potentially survive copyright takedowns on Facebook. Even after taking thousands of precautions, you are never sure if you have played safe. You need licensed music to play safely.
As Facebook states, you can get copyright strikes even if you:
- Use purchased media by some third party.
- Downloaded the content from the internet or found it with the label “AVAILABLE” or “FREE”
- Recorded and uploaded performances that may have caught a copyrighted song playing in the background during say concerts, any sports event, or a party, etc.
(Reminder: On YouTube, at least performance recordings don’t fall under this category. But Facebook doesn’t even allow that.)
- Saw other uploaders posting the same content without any bar.
- Thought the use of this media was fair and went well with their policy.
- Gave credit to the copyright owner.
- Took permission from the rights owner via a non-recognized channel.
(Facebook won’t bother to cross-check if the screenshots you shared were legit or not, they consider only recognized channels.)
- Included a disclaimer that you didn’t intend to infringe the copyright or earn money from the concerned video.
- Didn’t brand yourself.
- Modify the content or mix it with your own original content.
Now this is too much, I know.
Naturally speaking, this copyright policy is totally unfair to uploaders. As an advertiser or vlogger, everyone respects intellectual property protection laws but when Facebook says they won’t allow your 23-second party clip because the crowds dancing to the noisy and poorly captured music is copyright protected, that’s bizarre for creators.
I mean, does it even work?
Only when you discard all the options of using music not perfectly owned by yourself.
Yeah you must be thinking that this is the sheer killing of the very purpose of social media where we share our moments with family and friends. But as far as the music copyright policy of Facebook is concerned, they seem to not care at all for uploaders.
What happens if I get a copyright claim on Facebook? What are the consequences?
On Facebook, if you’ve been caught using other creators’ media, particularly BG music, there are many consequences including:
- Loss of profits.
- Video blocking, muting, or receiving warnings having long-term impact by Facebook.
- Disabling the account or your page/group may be permanently removed.
- Legal action.
Here’s a simple breakdown of the procedure Facebook follows:
- When Facebook receives a report from a rights owner asking them to take action on a copyright breach, they may instantly mute or remove that content from Facebook without giving you any prior notice.
- After the removal, you’ll receive a message from Facebook that explains the video take-down details to you. A typical video removal notification message includes:
- Name/Email of the claimant.
- The details of the rights infringement report.
- If you disagree with the decision and hold it unfair, you can try to fix the situation by reaching out to the rights-holder directly and striking a backroom deal. What goes into it can be scary.
- But if your content is removed, you can submit an appeal to Facebook. You’ll receive instructions about how to make a formal appeal in a message that they send you. But, here again, all bets are off for you, if we speak from data and trends.
- Lastly, you can submit a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA notice) counter-notification if the content is removed under the DMCA rules. Facebook would then reveal details about the follow-up via a message.
I have received multiple video takedowns due to copyright claims, Can I still monetize my channel?
If you repeatedly post copyrighted content and your videos got taken down multiple times, not only will you lose the chance to monetize your page but also your page will be disabled and removed permanently. Facebook is harsh.
There’s a Repeat Infringer Policy of Facebook that dictates these terms if you repeatedly violate copyright laws. And it doesn’t exclude minor music infringements. The actions taken under the policy may depend on the nature of the reported content and where it was posted.
In fact right after receiving a few claims, you start losing access to monetization features that really hinder your progress on Facebook. These restrictions on your page may include reduced ability to post an unlimited amount of content or limited access to certain functionalities and insights reports on Facebook.
Again, the severity of these actions will depend on the nature of the reported infringements, and where and for how much time the concerned content was posted.
Nevertheless, such consequences are sure to be a nightmare if you own a brand because in this case, it’s not your page that faces punishment. It’s your business tag.
Your business may be permanently banned from making a reentry to Facebook. As you can see, it can have a serious toll on your brand’s standing among competitors.
Another reminder, most of the time, the culprit behind these issues is BG music.
Facebook’s Dispute Resolution Process: Not enough for the alleged ‘violators’
Like YouTube, this is Facebook’s online dispute resolution forum.
Ahhh, as the last recourse, you can resort to this resolution process but it’s got some really poor relief history for the receivers.
Through this forum, both parties contact each other. If the uploader thinks that Facebook removed his content as a result of a complaint by the rights holder, he can contact the owner.
This is when you prefer settling your matter outside the realm of Facebook. You can negotiate a deal outside Facebook and save your brand from disabling but it can still be an excruciating option.
Of course, this would cost you an arm and a leg as the owner will try his best to squeeze your pocket up. You’ll have to take the material off as well as pay him some hefty amount as he knows that there’s too much at stake for you.
Bear in mind, this is a money business and no one will spare you here. They will make some really sharp-edged exchanges. Yes, once landed on it, this terrain is not a bed of roses. You’ll have to settle on at least one following options:
- Pay the owner the compensation money this is known as damages
- Pay him a large share of any profits you earned from the infringing piece of content.
- Here you may be thinking that, in the case of copyrighted music, the owner would count the music part only as a supportive factor for your earnings from the video. But in reality, they are not that fair. They are here to make the best out of this deal, not to win the fairness badge.
- You may also receive a court order asking you to remove your material (this is called Injunction in legal terms
How do I post a video on Facebook without copyright issues?
Let Foximusic help you avoid copyright issues on Facebook.
To avoid copyright nags on Facebook, the rule of thumb is simple. Avoid music about which you are not 100% sure. The point that I’ve gained from my experience is, Facebook may spare uploaders’ minor mistakes when they post copyrighted images or video clips (as their automatic detecting system can’t catch everything about images and videos) but the copyrighted background music is their favorite bunny. And it’s easy to detect. These violations can definitely spiral your FB mission out of control.
The best recourse here is Royalty-free music which can save your ass only if purchased from a well-reputed licenser.
But, let’s first address the million-dollar question.
What good is royalty-free music?
Well, you have a few options on your table:
- Getting a professional singer to compose songs for you?? Your wallet will get perilously thin.
- Using other creators’ music?? Nayyy. It’s too risky.
- Using so-called free music? Big NO.It’s a fraud. Read more about it here
- Going with licensed music from an established company? A SIGH OF RELIEF.
Way to go!!!
Here comes Foximusic with its exceptionally melodious music catalog that fit every format from Facebook ads to animation videos and whatnot. And, it is sure to be a solid deal because there is no uncertainty involved here.
There’s an extensive variety of background music tunes and songs for you to choose from. There are different packages depending on your needs and you only get what you make a deal for. No fake promises.
Take, for example, our hot-selling Standard Package. It gives you the comfort of zero anxiety about relicensing. You get to use licensed songs in unlimited videos on unlimited pages & unlimited platforms. Moreover, you can feature these songs in any commercial ads well. There’s no restriction regarding video types as well. Monetize or do whatever, there’s nothing stopping you. And get all of that for a bite-sized price of only $14.9o per song if you purchase a bundle of 10, without any expiry.
Make your no-frills deal?
For your fulfillment, everything is packed in a black & white contract with a law-backed guarantee, with no hidden fee or conditions that might bother you later.
The Final Story
If you don’t want to mess up your cash cow Facebook page, you want to avoid using any music that’s not completely cleared for Facebook use. . Facebook takes strict action against music copyright violations and these actions most often hurt you badly.
Let’s face it. No music option other than royalty-free music suits any new uploader or medium-scale business better. If you want to survive the warnings or limitations that you dread, play safe.
A good place to start?
Foximusic’s license is cleared for any social media platform, including Facebook and Instagram. 100% of it is reliable, dependable and safe. Simply pick your favorite songs and start crushing it on Facebook. It’s time for you to win it.
