Can I use copyrighted music in a personal family video on YouTube if I don't list it in catalogue? [closed]

Question

About half a year ago I shot family video about 10 minutes long: it was my son's birthday.

During post-processing I cut it down to about 7 minutes and added 40 seconds of slideshow using copyrighted performance of classical music for background. I also own the purchased CD with this performance, if that is important.

I uploaded this video to YouTube, but since it is my private video, I did not list it in the catalog. Instead, I just sent the links to the video to my family members -- this is the only way how the video can be accessed, there is no public link.

Now I got the message from YouTube that copyrighted content had been detected in my video and that it may be deleted, even though there is nothing concrete and I can do nothing against it.

My question is whether this use of copyrighted music can be considered fair use or do I require a special permission for the music in slideshow, especially taking into account that it is quite short?

Answer 1

Even though the video isn't listed publicly, anyone with that URL can access the video - so you have actually distributed copyrighted content. Putting it another way, if you uploaded your music collection and sent links to your family or friends, this is also distributing copyrighted material.

The laws that apply in this case would probably be the laws of the country in which YouTube is operated, although you should be aware of the laws in your own country also and abide by the stricter of the two.

Try to use Royalty Free Music, Copyright Free Music in future, or buy a license from the publisher.