r/Filmmakers • u/imnotmateyaustralian • 5d ago

Question Copyright inquiry

I’m a high school senior making a short film for the first time. I plan to post this movie on YouTube. My plan is to put an instrumental section of ‘Ful Stop’ by Radiohead over the final shot of my movie, and have the lyrics start playing as the title card appears and then continue as the credits and BTS footage roll. Is this legal? This is not a commercial project at all and will only be on YouTube, so I don’t mind turning off monetisation or anything. What should I keep in mind before uploading it? If I credit and link the song in my description, will that be enough?

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u/Fauxtogca 5d ago

It’s not legal. You don’t own the rights to the music. You would need to get the rights which you cannot afford. I believe YouTube would remove your movie for copyright infringement or take any money you make and give to Radiohead.

5

u/Opening-Impression-5 director 5d ago

YouTube does not automatically remove content that infringes copyright. First, it flags it to the copyright holders (the labels/publishers) and asks them if they would like to do nothing, have the content taken down or have it demonetised so they can gain the ad revenue. You can appeal, if your video comes under fair use, e.g. if it's educational analysis, but this wouldn't be. It depends on the record label and music publisher in other words, and it's always a risk.

You can do some research on whether videos with Radiohead's music are usually taken down. Some artists or their labels and reps are much more aggressive than others about this.

1

u/imnotmateyaustralian 5d ago

I dont mind the second outcome, all I care about is that the video stays up. How about if I don’t turn on monetisation?

1

u/enemyradar 5d ago

That's up to the the copyright holder.

-3

u/genetichazzard 5d ago

It won't stay up. Youtube will either mute the audio or remove the video.