YouTube Processed 2.2 Billion Content ID Copyright Claims in 2024

To protect copyright holders, YouTube regularly removes, disables, or demonetizes videos that contain allegedly infringing content.

For years, little was known about the scope of these copyright claims. That changed three years ago when the streaming platform published its first-ever transparency report.

The report showed that roughly 99% of all copyright claims on YouTube are handled through the Content ID system. Since many claims are automated, without human intervention, access is restricted to a few thousand vetted rightsholders.

4,564 Users, 2.2 Billion Claims

Published this week, YouTube’s latest Transparency Report shows that the number of automated claims continues to rise. In 2024, the streaming platform processed over 2.2 billion claims, up from nearly 2 billion a year earlier.

YouTube reports that of the 7,703 rightsholders who currently have access to the system, 4,564 actively use it. That’s a relatively small number when compared to the 308,556 users who filed just over 3 million claims through the online takedown form.

The report reveals that 99.43% of all copyright actions taken on the platform throughout the year are processed by the Content ID system. These are mostly automated claims, but Content ID users also flagged content manually in 0.31% of cases.

This tiny percentage might not sound like much but, at this scale, it translates to approximately 6.9 million manual claims.

Disputed Claims

Despite the immense volume of claims, the number of disputed claims remains relatively low. Fewer than 1% of the over 2.2 billion Content ID claims were disputed by recipients in 2024. That’s relatively low, although one percent still equates to 22 million disputes.

Interestingly, manually generated claims were more than twice as likely to be disputed (1.13%) compared to those made via automated detection (0.54%). This suggests that human intervention triggers more complaints.

Challenges against Copyright claims are often filed for good reason. According to the report, over 65% of Content ID claim disputes in 2024 were resolved in favor of the uploader. This typically happens because claimants voluntarily released their claim or did not respond in time.

A “$12 Billion” Money Machine

While Content ID can be a major source of frustration for YouTubers, it has become a goldmine for rightsholders. Instead of removing infringing videos, most rightsholders prefer to monetize them through YouTube instead.

Rightsholders chose to monetize over 90% of all Content ID claims in 2024. As a result, the advertising revenue from these videos is shared with the claiming parties instead of the uploaders.

This monetization strategy has proven to generate substantial revenues for claimants. Since inception, YouTube has paid out $12 billion in revenue for copyright claims originating from the Content ID system.

Access Restricted

The numbers reported above only apply to the Content ID system. While it’s responsible for nearly all copyright actions on YouTube, those who are not part of the system must use other options, such as the webform or the Copyright Match Tool.

Many other rightsholders would like access to Content ID, but YouTube intentionally limits participation to a few thousand vetted users.

One of the reasons YouTube limits use of Content ID to a relatively small group, is the potential for damage. An inaccurate or abusive reference file can result in thousands of false claims.

“In Content ID the impact is multiplied due to its automated nature; one bad reference file can impact hundreds or even thousands of videos across the site,” YouTube writes.

“In one highly publicized instance, a news channel uploaded public domain footage from NASA of a Mars rover and ended up making inappropriate claims against all other news channels and creators using the same footage, even against the NASA channel itself.”

This doesn’t mean that Content ID is perfect, of course. While there have been plenty of mistakes and even outright criminal abuse in the past, YouTube hopes that with the current setup, it has found a balance most rightsholders and content creators can live with. Whether that’s indeed the case, depends on who you ask.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.