If you received a copyright claim, you might see a name in the claimant section that you don’t recognize. Some copyright owners are represented by reporting organizations or rights management agencies.
It’s important to understand that many copyright owners don’t manage their rights on YouTube personally. Instead, they hire specialized organizations to protect their work and manage Content ID claims on their behalf.
About Reporting Organizations
Reporting organizations are entities that act on behalf of copyright owners. They are granted access to YouTube’s Copyright Management Suite because they manage large catalogs of content.
Common types of reporting organizations include:
- Music publishers and societies such as BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN, PRS, or GEMA that collect royalties for songwriters.
- Third-party rights management agencies such as Audio Network, HAAWK, or AdRev that manage digital rights for independent artists.
- Anti-piracy firms hired by studios to identify and remove unauthorized uploads using the Copyright Match Tool.
Why You May See a Claim From Them
When you use a song or video clip, the claim might not come from the artist themselves, but from the company they’ve hired to handle their licensing.
Do note that seeing a name like “administered by” or “on behalf of” simply means the legal rightsholder has outsourced the paperwork to that organization. It doesn’t mean the claim is invalid.
How to Verify or Dispute a Claim
If you believe a claim from a reporting organization is incorrect, such as if you have a direct license or your use falls under the Fair Use exception, you have several options:
- YouTube often lists the specific song and the entities that licensed it.
- If you used music from a library such as Epidemic Sound or Artlist, ensure your channel is whitelisted through their system.
- If you have the legal right to use the content, you can dispute the claim. The reporting organization will have a month to review a dispute.
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