Insightful Discussion on YouTube Keyword Mastery

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With more than 1 billion hours of video watched every day, YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. That means you should optimize your videos for YouTube, so they rank well on Google and show up in YouTube searches.

YouTube keywords are the words you include in your video title, description, and anywhere that will help YouTube’s algorithm know what your video is about and what it entails. Keep reading to learn more about YouTube keyword research.

In this article

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

Researching YouTube keywords is essential to your success. Here are three reasons why you might want to consider YouTube keyword research.

Helps You Know What Your Audience Is Searching for

Keyword research allows you to understand what people search for when they are on YouTube. In turn, this helps you know what your potential customers are seeking. You’ll then include these terms on your content to increase the chances of your audience finding you on YouTube.

It Helps You Rank Higher

You can use YouTube videos to promote brand awareness and market your product. Having high-ranking videos is a cost-effective way to push your target audience through the sales funnel.

When creating YouTube videos, you need to ensure you are reaching your target audience. And that is why researching keywords is crucial.

Once you have performed YouTube keyword research and determined the most suitable keywords for your topic, you can now use them to create target content for your audience. In turn, this will help you increase the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel. Your chances of your video showing up on YouTube will increase, which will bring traffic to your business.

It’s the Cheapest Way to Market Your Products or Services

Video marketing is expensive, and that is why you have to find every possible edge for your video marketing if you want to lower your costs and increase your ROI. For this reason, keyword research will ensure your audience finds you without spending loads of money that you could have used on services like Google Ads.

Because keyword research allows your target audience to find you, this means more opportunities for you. Most of the users will share entertaining videos.

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

There are several ways of conducting keyword research for YouTube to find out what people are searching for and determine the content in your video. They include:

1. Using YouTube Search

Although this method doesn’t provide all available search options, it’s still good for getting an idea of the type of keyword with which you’re dealing.

You can start your research by typing the keywords into YouTube’s search bar and reviewing the displayed results. It might be helpful to check out similar videos or video playlists. If your search seems too wide, you can enter several keywords at once (separated by commas), which will help you find better results.

2. Using Google’s Keyword Planner Tool

This tool is helpful for keyword difficulty and monthly searches volume assessment. If you only want to know the number of organic visits a given keyword gets, Google Keyword Planner might be helpful. The tool allows you to create lists consisting of related keywords and provides information about CPC (cost per click) and potential traffic in general.

3. Using YouTube Suggestions

What makes YouTube unique is its ability to suggest content based on your location, subscription, and watch history. You can use this method to find keyword ideas if you have subscribed to relevant channels. Also, you can rely on YouTube suggestions to find out whether a topic is popular or not.

4. Using YouTube Analytics

YouTube has a built-in Keyword Tool that is extremely helpful for researching the best keywords to use in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. This method allows you to see video search keywords with which users are finding your content. It is possible to review top organic keywords together with the respective engagement metrics, including bounce rate and average view duration.

5. Using Third-Party YouTube Keyword Tools

Last but not least, there are several third-party tools available on the market that provide both keyword difficulty and organic traffic estimation data for YouTube keywords. Some of these tools also offer similar features, including recommendations based on your existing subscriptions. Let’s look at some of the popular YouTube tools that you can use.

vidIQ

Designed to boost YouTube views, vidIQ is an effective SEO tool. The tool recommends keywords, descriptions, and titles that will help you to get more views and subscribers.

Performing vidIQ keyword research that relates to your video is a breeze. With just a few clicks, you will know what people are searching for and create content that they want to watch.

The tool allows you to enable inline keywords to know the tags your competitors use on search results. Use them to help you generate ideas relevant to your content. vidIQ also suggests ideal keywords like YouTube.

TubeBuddy

You can also use TubeBuddy to find and evaluate a range of YouTube keywords. You can do TubeBuddy keyword research on its mobile app or browser extension. The tool also shows how often people click on the results and how often users search a keyword.

Keyword Keg

Using the YouTube suggest API, Keyword Keg shows you the terms users search most and the monthly number of searches. You’ll also see what other people are paying for CPC (cost per click). You can use this data to determine the best keywords for your YouTube videos.

Qusetion: Are keywords and Tags the Same Thing?

Answer: The main difference between tags and keywords is where you will place them. Keywords describe the content in your video to help search engines and YouTube’s algorithm find your video. Tags describe what the content in your video is about and how it’s connected.

Make Great YouTube Videos with Filmora

Having high-quality videos can make you stand out from your competitors. Filmora is a video editing software that allows you to create amazing YouTube videos. It has powerful editing tools that will enhance the quality of your videos.

You can also add over 800 cool effects and filters to your videos to make them fun to watch. With just a single click, you can add opacity and speed ramp effects as well as infinite zoom effects.

Additionally, you can adjust the dynamic range and white balance of Your YouTube videos. Furthermore, you can fine-tune the audio of your video to make it crisp and eliminate camera shake.

The best part is: Filmora is compatible with macOS X 10.12 or later and Windows 7, 8, and 10. It also supports all popular standard HD videos, audio, and image file formats.

Conclusion

Now that you know the importance of YouTube keyword research and how to perform keyword research, your target audience can find you easily.

Try It Free Try It Free

With more than 1 billion hours of video watched every day, YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. That means you should optimize your videos for YouTube, so they rank well on Google and show up in YouTube searches.

YouTube keywords are the words you include in your video title, description, and anywhere that will help YouTube’s algorithm know what your video is about and what it entails. Keep reading to learn more about YouTube keyword research.

In this article

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

Researching YouTube keywords is essential to your success. Here are three reasons why you might want to consider YouTube keyword research.

Helps You Know What Your Audience Is Searching for

Keyword research allows you to understand what people search for when they are on YouTube. In turn, this helps you know what your potential customers are seeking. You’ll then include these terms on your content to increase the chances of your audience finding you on YouTube.

It Helps You Rank Higher

You can use YouTube videos to promote brand awareness and market your product. Having high-ranking videos is a cost-effective way to push your target audience through the sales funnel.

When creating YouTube videos, you need to ensure you are reaching your target audience. And that is why researching keywords is crucial.

Once you have performed YouTube keyword research and determined the most suitable keywords for your topic, you can now use them to create target content for your audience. In turn, this will help you increase the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel. Your chances of your video showing up on YouTube will increase, which will bring traffic to your business.

It’s the Cheapest Way to Market Your Products or Services

Video marketing is expensive, and that is why you have to find every possible edge for your video marketing if you want to lower your costs and increase your ROI. For this reason, keyword research will ensure your audience finds you without spending loads of money that you could have used on services like Google Ads.

Because keyword research allows your target audience to find you, this means more opportunities for you. Most of the users will share entertaining videos.

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

There are several ways of conducting keyword research for YouTube to find out what people are searching for and determine the content in your video. They include:

1. Using YouTube Search

Although this method doesn’t provide all available search options, it’s still good for getting an idea of the type of keyword with which you’re dealing.

You can start your research by typing the keywords into YouTube’s search bar and reviewing the displayed results. It might be helpful to check out similar videos or video playlists. If your search seems too wide, you can enter several keywords at once (separated by commas), which will help you find better results.

2. Using Google’s Keyword Planner Tool

This tool is helpful for keyword difficulty and monthly searches volume assessment. If you only want to know the number of organic visits a given keyword gets, Google Keyword Planner might be helpful. The tool allows you to create lists consisting of related keywords and provides information about CPC (cost per click) and potential traffic in general.

3. Using YouTube Suggestions

What makes YouTube unique is its ability to suggest content based on your location, subscription, and watch history. You can use this method to find keyword ideas if you have subscribed to relevant channels. Also, you can rely on YouTube suggestions to find out whether a topic is popular or not.

4. Using YouTube Analytics

YouTube has a built-in Keyword Tool that is extremely helpful for researching the best keywords to use in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. This method allows you to see video search keywords with which users are finding your content. It is possible to review top organic keywords together with the respective engagement metrics, including bounce rate and average view duration.

5. Using Third-Party YouTube Keyword Tools

Last but not least, there are several third-party tools available on the market that provide both keyword difficulty and organic traffic estimation data for YouTube keywords. Some of these tools also offer similar features, including recommendations based on your existing subscriptions. Let’s look at some of the popular YouTube tools that you can use.

vidIQ

Designed to boost YouTube views, vidIQ is an effective SEO tool. The tool recommends keywords, descriptions, and titles that will help you to get more views and subscribers.

Performing vidIQ keyword research that relates to your video is a breeze. With just a few clicks, you will know what people are searching for and create content that they want to watch.

The tool allows you to enable inline keywords to know the tags your competitors use on search results. Use them to help you generate ideas relevant to your content. vidIQ also suggests ideal keywords like YouTube.

TubeBuddy

You can also use TubeBuddy to find and evaluate a range of YouTube keywords. You can do TubeBuddy keyword research on its mobile app or browser extension. The tool also shows how often people click on the results and how often users search a keyword.

Keyword Keg

Using the YouTube suggest API, Keyword Keg shows you the terms users search most and the monthly number of searches. You’ll also see what other people are paying for CPC (cost per click). You can use this data to determine the best keywords for your YouTube videos.

Qusetion: Are keywords and Tags the Same Thing?

Answer: The main difference between tags and keywords is where you will place them. Keywords describe the content in your video to help search engines and YouTube’s algorithm find your video. Tags describe what the content in your video is about and how it’s connected.

Make Great YouTube Videos with Filmora

Having high-quality videos can make you stand out from your competitors. Filmora is a video editing software that allows you to create amazing YouTube videos. It has powerful editing tools that will enhance the quality of your videos.

You can also add over 800 cool effects and filters to your videos to make them fun to watch. With just a single click, you can add opacity and speed ramp effects as well as infinite zoom effects.

Additionally, you can adjust the dynamic range and white balance of Your YouTube videos. Furthermore, you can fine-tune the audio of your video to make it crisp and eliminate camera shake.

The best part is: Filmora is compatible with macOS X 10.12 or later and Windows 7, 8, and 10. It also supports all popular standard HD videos, audio, and image file formats.

Conclusion

Now that you know the importance of YouTube keyword research and how to perform keyword research, your target audience can find you easily.

Try It Free Try It Free

With more than 1 billion hours of video watched every day, YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. That means you should optimize your videos for YouTube, so they rank well on Google and show up in YouTube searches.

YouTube keywords are the words you include in your video title, description, and anywhere that will help YouTube’s algorithm know what your video is about and what it entails. Keep reading to learn more about YouTube keyword research.

In this article

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

Researching YouTube keywords is essential to your success. Here are three reasons why you might want to consider YouTube keyword research.

Helps You Know What Your Audience Is Searching for

Keyword research allows you to understand what people search for when they are on YouTube. In turn, this helps you know what your potential customers are seeking. You’ll then include these terms on your content to increase the chances of your audience finding you on YouTube.

It Helps You Rank Higher

You can use YouTube videos to promote brand awareness and market your product. Having high-ranking videos is a cost-effective way to push your target audience through the sales funnel.

When creating YouTube videos, you need to ensure you are reaching your target audience. And that is why researching keywords is crucial.

Once you have performed YouTube keyword research and determined the most suitable keywords for your topic, you can now use them to create target content for your audience. In turn, this will help you increase the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel. Your chances of your video showing up on YouTube will increase, which will bring traffic to your business.

It’s the Cheapest Way to Market Your Products or Services

Video marketing is expensive, and that is why you have to find every possible edge for your video marketing if you want to lower your costs and increase your ROI. For this reason, keyword research will ensure your audience finds you without spending loads of money that you could have used on services like Google Ads.

Because keyword research allows your target audience to find you, this means more opportunities for you. Most of the users will share entertaining videos.

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

There are several ways of conducting keyword research for YouTube to find out what people are searching for and determine the content in your video. They include:

1. Using YouTube Search

Although this method doesn’t provide all available search options, it’s still good for getting an idea of the type of keyword with which you’re dealing.

You can start your research by typing the keywords into YouTube’s search bar and reviewing the displayed results. It might be helpful to check out similar videos or video playlists. If your search seems too wide, you can enter several keywords at once (separated by commas), which will help you find better results.

2. Using Google’s Keyword Planner Tool

This tool is helpful for keyword difficulty and monthly searches volume assessment. If you only want to know the number of organic visits a given keyword gets, Google Keyword Planner might be helpful. The tool allows you to create lists consisting of related keywords and provides information about CPC (cost per click) and potential traffic in general.

3. Using YouTube Suggestions

What makes YouTube unique is its ability to suggest content based on your location, subscription, and watch history. You can use this method to find keyword ideas if you have subscribed to relevant channels. Also, you can rely on YouTube suggestions to find out whether a topic is popular or not.

4. Using YouTube Analytics

YouTube has a built-in Keyword Tool that is extremely helpful for researching the best keywords to use in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. This method allows you to see video search keywords with which users are finding your content. It is possible to review top organic keywords together with the respective engagement metrics, including bounce rate and average view duration.

5. Using Third-Party YouTube Keyword Tools

Last but not least, there are several third-party tools available on the market that provide both keyword difficulty and organic traffic estimation data for YouTube keywords. Some of these tools also offer similar features, including recommendations based on your existing subscriptions. Let’s look at some of the popular YouTube tools that you can use.

vidIQ

Designed to boost YouTube views, vidIQ is an effective SEO tool. The tool recommends keywords, descriptions, and titles that will help you to get more views and subscribers.

Performing vidIQ keyword research that relates to your video is a breeze. With just a few clicks, you will know what people are searching for and create content that they want to watch.

The tool allows you to enable inline keywords to know the tags your competitors use on search results. Use them to help you generate ideas relevant to your content. vidIQ also suggests ideal keywords like YouTube.

TubeBuddy

You can also use TubeBuddy to find and evaluate a range of YouTube keywords. You can do TubeBuddy keyword research on its mobile app or browser extension. The tool also shows how often people click on the results and how often users search a keyword.

Keyword Keg

Using the YouTube suggest API, Keyword Keg shows you the terms users search most and the monthly number of searches. You’ll also see what other people are paying for CPC (cost per click). You can use this data to determine the best keywords for your YouTube videos.

Qusetion: Are keywords and Tags the Same Thing?

Answer: The main difference between tags and keywords is where you will place them. Keywords describe the content in your video to help search engines and YouTube’s algorithm find your video. Tags describe what the content in your video is about and how it’s connected.

Make Great YouTube Videos with Filmora

Having high-quality videos can make you stand out from your competitors. Filmora is a video editing software that allows you to create amazing YouTube videos. It has powerful editing tools that will enhance the quality of your videos.

You can also add over 800 cool effects and filters to your videos to make them fun to watch. With just a single click, you can add opacity and speed ramp effects as well as infinite zoom effects.

Additionally, you can adjust the dynamic range and white balance of Your YouTube videos. Furthermore, you can fine-tune the audio of your video to make it crisp and eliminate camera shake.

The best part is: Filmora is compatible with macOS X 10.12 or later and Windows 7, 8, and 10. It also supports all popular standard HD videos, audio, and image file formats.

Conclusion

Now that you know the importance of YouTube keyword research and how to perform keyword research, your target audience can find you easily.

Try It Free Try It Free

With more than 1 billion hours of video watched every day, YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine. That means you should optimize your videos for YouTube, so they rank well on Google and show up in YouTube searches.

YouTube keywords are the words you include in your video title, description, and anywhere that will help YouTube’s algorithm know what your video is about and what it entails. Keep reading to learn more about YouTube keyword research.

In this article

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

Why Do We Need to Research YouTube Keywords?

Researching YouTube keywords is essential to your success. Here are three reasons why you might want to consider YouTube keyword research.

Helps You Know What Your Audience Is Searching for

Keyword research allows you to understand what people search for when they are on YouTube. In turn, this helps you know what your potential customers are seeking. You’ll then include these terms on your content to increase the chances of your audience finding you on YouTube.

It Helps You Rank Higher

You can use YouTube videos to promote brand awareness and market your product. Having high-ranking videos is a cost-effective way to push your target audience through the sales funnel.

When creating YouTube videos, you need to ensure you are reaching your target audience. And that is why researching keywords is crucial.

Once you have performed YouTube keyword research and determined the most suitable keywords for your topic, you can now use them to create target content for your audience. In turn, this will help you increase the number of subscribers on your YouTube channel. Your chances of your video showing up on YouTube will increase, which will bring traffic to your business.

It’s the Cheapest Way to Market Your Products or Services

Video marketing is expensive, and that is why you have to find every possible edge for your video marketing if you want to lower your costs and increase your ROI. For this reason, keyword research will ensure your audience finds you without spending loads of money that you could have used on services like Google Ads.

Because keyword research allows your target audience to find you, this means more opportunities for you. Most of the users will share entertaining videos.

How to Research Keywords on YouTube?

There are several ways of conducting keyword research for YouTube to find out what people are searching for and determine the content in your video. They include:

1. Using YouTube Search

Although this method doesn’t provide all available search options, it’s still good for getting an idea of the type of keyword with which you’re dealing.

You can start your research by typing the keywords into YouTube’s search bar and reviewing the displayed results. It might be helpful to check out similar videos or video playlists. If your search seems too wide, you can enter several keywords at once (separated by commas), which will help you find better results.

2. Using Google’s Keyword Planner Tool

This tool is helpful for keyword difficulty and monthly searches volume assessment. If you only want to know the number of organic visits a given keyword gets, Google Keyword Planner might be helpful. The tool allows you to create lists consisting of related keywords and provides information about CPC (cost per click) and potential traffic in general.

3. Using YouTube Suggestions

What makes YouTube unique is its ability to suggest content based on your location, subscription, and watch history. You can use this method to find keyword ideas if you have subscribed to relevant channels. Also, you can rely on YouTube suggestions to find out whether a topic is popular or not.

4. Using YouTube Analytics

YouTube has a built-in Keyword Tool that is extremely helpful for researching the best keywords to use in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. This method allows you to see video search keywords with which users are finding your content. It is possible to review top organic keywords together with the respective engagement metrics, including bounce rate and average view duration.

5. Using Third-Party YouTube Keyword Tools

Last but not least, there are several third-party tools available on the market that provide both keyword difficulty and organic traffic estimation data for YouTube keywords. Some of these tools also offer similar features, including recommendations based on your existing subscriptions. Let’s look at some of the popular YouTube tools that you can use.

vidIQ

Designed to boost YouTube views, vidIQ is an effective SEO tool. The tool recommends keywords, descriptions, and titles that will help you to get more views and subscribers.

Performing vidIQ keyword research that relates to your video is a breeze. With just a few clicks, you will know what people are searching for and create content that they want to watch.

The tool allows you to enable inline keywords to know the tags your competitors use on search results. Use them to help you generate ideas relevant to your content. vidIQ also suggests ideal keywords like YouTube.

TubeBuddy

You can also use TubeBuddy to find and evaluate a range of YouTube keywords. You can do TubeBuddy keyword research on its mobile app or browser extension. The tool also shows how often people click on the results and how often users search a keyword.

Keyword Keg

Using the YouTube suggest API, Keyword Keg shows you the terms users search most and the monthly number of searches. You’ll also see what other people are paying for CPC (cost per click). You can use this data to determine the best keywords for your YouTube videos.

Qusetion: Are keywords and Tags the Same Thing?

Answer: The main difference between tags and keywords is where you will place them. Keywords describe the content in your video to help search engines and YouTube’s algorithm find your video. Tags describe what the content in your video is about and how it’s connected.

Make Great YouTube Videos with Filmora

Having high-quality videos can make you stand out from your competitors. Filmora is a video editing software that allows you to create amazing YouTube videos. It has powerful editing tools that will enhance the quality of your videos.

You can also add over 800 cool effects and filters to your videos to make them fun to watch. With just a single click, you can add opacity and speed ramp effects as well as infinite zoom effects.

Additionally, you can adjust the dynamic range and white balance of Your YouTube videos. Furthermore, you can fine-tune the audio of your video to make it crisp and eliminate camera shake.

The best part is: Filmora is compatible with macOS X 10.12 or later and Windows 7, 8, and 10. It also supports all popular standard HD videos, audio, and image file formats.

Conclusion

Now that you know the importance of YouTube keyword research and how to perform keyword research, your target audience can find you easily.

A Step-by-Step Guide on Applying CC Rights Effectively

How to Use Creative Commons Copyright Licenses [Complete Guide]

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett