Video summary

This Is the Craziest Copyright Claim I've EVER Gotten

Main summary

Key takeaways

News and Commentary

Summary of Video Subtitles (Copyright / Moderation Commentary)

  • The creator says they’ve been on YouTube for 15 years and have repeatedly received copyright claims through Content ID, describing it as increasingly frustrating. They report claims even for very small or altered musical elements.

  • Main “craziest” example: In a video recorded in a hyper-quiet room (where you can hear internal body sounds), they joke by preparing to play “The Sound of Silence” on bass—but mute the audio, so they essentially play nothing. Despite not playing the song at all, YouTube still issues a copyright claim for “The Sound of Silence.” They describe this as “copyrighting silence,” and question what the system is detecting (e.g., whether it’s matching title/text, fingering visuals, or some other non-audio signal).

  • They add this isn’t isolated:

    • In another video, they claim a guitar-store moment involving “Smoke on the Water” triggered a copyright claim even though they only played a brief, slightly mutated 5-second version, not the full recognizable riff.
    • They describe how disputes work:
      • Accepting the claim means losing ad revenue.
      • Trimming the flagged section means losing content.
      • Counter-disputing is risky because if the dispute is rejected, the video can be removed immediately—potentially also affecting anything tied to sponsorships.
    • Overall, they argue the system favors rightsholders (“copyright trolls”) with high risk for creators and low risk for claimants.

  • Moderation / paranoia escalation (separate from copyright): They say YouTube moderation removed a short from a year earlier for “harassment and cyber bullying.” They insist the clip does not actually involve slapping a baby, claiming it’s a joke/cinematic bit, but the uploader still received a warning.

  • They conclude that creators may need to constantly re-check past content because rules can change and older posts can suddenly be flagged. Their final takeaway is nihilistic: there’s allegedly no way to make a video that can’t be claimed, even content involving “silence.” They also expect their current video to be claimed due to mentioning “The Sound of Silence.”

Presenters / Contributors

  • The video’s speaker/uploader: (not named in the subtitles).

Original video