[FAQ]

Hey,

I’m trying to start a commentary channel on YouTube, but I’m getting really hung up on the legal side of things, specifically Fair Use. I keep reading that my content needs to be “transformative,” but I don’t really know what that means in a practical sense.

I see huge channels that use long clips from movies or other YouTube videos, and they seem to be fine. But I’m terrified that if I use a 30-second clip and just talk over it, I’ll get an instant copyright strike. How much do you have to add or change for it to count as transformative? Is it about the length of the clip, or more about the quality of the commentary?

I’d really appreciate a clear, simple explanation of how this works for a typical YouTube video.

[Jeff Bullas]

This is a critical legal concept to understand for any YouTube commentary channel.

Short Answer: Transformative work adds a new meaning or message to the original source material. This means your commentary, criticism, or parody must be the primary substance of your video, not the clip you are using.

The strength of a Fair Use claim depends entirely on how your own content formats fundamentally alter and re-contextualise the source material.

To create a transformative work on YouTube, you must layer your own creative formats over the source material so extensively that you create a new experience. Firstly, your audio format—your voiceover—cannot simply describe what is happening; it must provide critical analysis, parody, or new information that reframes the original clip. Secondly, your own video format must be present, whether that is footage of you on camera, custom animations, or other b-roll that adds to your argument. Thirdly, you should add new visual formats like on-screen text or graphics that highlight points, add jokes, or present data that further distinguishes your video from the source. A successful transformative work is one where the combination of your new audio, video, and text formats is the main reason people are watching, not the original clip itself.

Cheers,

Jeff

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