Are the sound clips from Final Cut Pro Fair Use?, Are the sound clips from Final Cut Pro Fair Use?

Question

I recently found YouTube had flaged a video for containing a "third party" sound clip.  All clips I've used in videos for YouTube have come directly from Final Cut Pro X.  Any idea if the sound clips are Fair Use?  I'm not sure how to repsond to YouTube and don't want to get a mark against my account due to this.

Answer 1

You can pretty much forget about monetizing that specific video. 
[Okay... I'm going to ramble now...]
To avoid problems with youtube, you need to post a copyright (like this: @2013 by Your Name) on the video (I recommend within the first 10 seconds) -- and you better have it *right*. If you use other audio and video, as long as you have secured the proper permissions for use, you can still claim a copyright to the video you post on YouTube -- it is your creation (but it better not be a single clip of somebody else's work being passed off as something you did -- just to be clear -- your videos need to have original content that you created in order to justify the © you put on it. If you use *other stuff* as long as it's *with* permissions, it's still your video.) [If your video is going to be monetized -- make absolutely sure you have that permission for *commercial* use! Quite a lot of sources will specify that their materials *cannot* be used for any commercial use without further permissions, if at all. With Apple Loops (pro apps music and sound) you do have that express permission to be used in commercial works as long as it follows the EULA. More below.)]
You also need to specify the music and/or sound effects are "licensed from Apple Computer and used with permission" and you might as well state they are "made with Apple Loops". YouTube understands the EULA of the Apple Pro software (Logic, STP, FCP/FCPX, etc...) -- but even Apple licensed all that stuff from outside sources. Apple just takes care of paying "them" for it in advance so you don't have to (you buy it with the cost of the software license.)
You cannot use any of the "music beds" by themselves, in their entirety (all those nice long demo pieces everybody likes so much and you hear several times a day on [local] TV commercials). The EULA actually specifically states this (although you might have to read it two or three times until it becomes clear...LOL). Even loops are not to be released "as is", in their entirety, in any "derivative work". So, basically, make sure some other sound is mixed in with it (if it's music, add drums or other percussion, harmony, or duck it under talking, etc...)
The point is, no matter what audio source you have, if it is *music* (or foley) and EVEN IF you are the creator of that music or sound effect, you need to specifically put it in writing IN the video (not in the description). You need to reference the source (e.g.: stock footage by BottledVideo.com) and state it's being used with (or by) permission. [According to YouTube: I have copyright infringed MYSELF!!! just for leaving out all this *stuff* from my subsequent videos (music that I composed and performed myself on guitar... I was livid... but it stuck!).]
I can pretty much guarantee that within minutes of  posting your video (if it is monetized) -- some real live person at youtube puts eyes on that video to make sure it is properly "signed". I can tell by how long it takes for the monetize checkmark to go from dark to light green -- usually less than 10 minutes.
If your video is not monetized, and it's not a blatant violation, they probably will let you off with a warning, tell you that you don't need to do anything "right now" and it won't count as a mark against you... If it IS monetized, it won't be - they'll turn it right off and your chances of winning a challenge are almost 0 (unless you can PROVE you own the material -- and  I have won a challenge -- see * below);  and you will probably see a "Copyright Notices" (or similar) item in the menu on your channel settings. If you can redo the video - pull the old one, put in the new info and re-up it.  It's a royal PITA, but in this day and age, it's a necessity.
All videos destined for youtube should be treated as mini motion pictures and be prepared as such with full "disclosures" in titling... Welcome to  21st Century Pox [This statement is not meant to be derogatory to 21st Century Fox or imply any association or criticism or slander, and is only to be intended to be received as a parody on a common phrase that is currently still in use... No words were harmed in the formation of this pun.]
Get the point? YouTube tries to tell everybody -- but they've done a pretty lousy job of doing it. It's taken me, oh, I guess a year or so to learn to "behave" after wandering through a mire of confusing information from too many different sources -- and even if I am the sole producer of 100% of all the content in the video, I *still* have to place that © and "commit" it; it is *not* taken on faith.  I actually had to go back and reread all my licenses and interpret the legalese to figure it out. It would have been simpler if they just put it: Your video is a miniature professional production. Make sure it includes all titling to reflect all participants -- *just like you'd see in a modern major motion picture or a major broadcast television series* -- I think everyone would pretty much understand what that involves. You don't have to get quite that extreme, just cover you bases and your a©©.
I tried to cover it all... but I'm pretty sure I haven't... so... good luck!
*How I won my challenge with an Apple Loops composition:
1) the music, even though using "canned" loops, was an original complex composition (I'll argue theory with anyone about this... it will be based on limited sets and recombinants as well as the theory of instrumentation and timing. In other words - I massage the heck out of loops until they don't sound anything like the originals. I almost never use audio loops -- always MIDI.) [BTW - this was another instance of copyright infringing myself - I had used the same music in a previous video I produced a year or so earlier... when I, like you, thought I was "free" to use the clips as I saw fit.]
2) the music I used in the video was originally created in Logic and I made sure the ID3 tags were filled in with my name and copyright information
3) I have a YouTube Associated Website (think this is a "partner" thing... and google "sanctioned") but if you see it, make sure you associate your domain. [I think you might be able to create a Google+ account and associate a domain that way if it's not part of your YouTube settings.]
4) I uploaded the original mp3 with the ID3 tags to my associated domain.
5) in the challenge, I 1) attached the original mp3 (w/ID3 tags); 2) gave youtube a link to the copy on my associated website for *verification* that the files belonged to ME; (and they already had the URL to the video in question -- a basic 3 point verify.)
It worked. They accepted the verifcation. (And this was the first challenge I've been able to win.) [This was very recent. What about the others? I might get a chance to complete the verifications, but I know for some, I've used up my challenges. The only other option is to pull them and redo them...]
One last word of advice: It does not pay to get "huffy", indignant, or righteous with YouTube in a challenge. They don't care.  <-- read that again a lot more slowly...  They have their own behinds to take care of — and your video (and/or account) lives (or dies) by their grace. If you read that and infer that I have been those things, then yes, I have... to absolutely no avail... even though I thought I was right (to the best understanding I had at the time) — they have rules. Be respectful. In general, they're pretty relaxed about all this even though it might not look that way to many users. Once you get the rules down, everything goes a lot easier... even if it is a little more work. You have to take responsibility for your own work.