---
title: 'Fair Use: How to Legally Use Movie Clips & Copyrighted Material in Your YouTube Videos'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=MSCSh7ZVtCc'
video_id: 'MSCSh7ZVtCc'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 1220
---

# Fair Use: How to Legally Use Movie Clips & Copyrighted Material in Your YouTube Videos

> Source: [Fair Use: How to Legally Use Movie Clips & Copyrighted Material in Your YouTube Videos](https://youtube.com/watch?v=MSCSh7ZVtCc)

## Summary

This video explains how to legally use copyrighted material, such as movie clips, in YouTube videos by understanding the fair use doctrine. The creator breaks down the four factors of fair use, discusses the copyright claim and appeal process, and provides practical tips for sourcing clips while avoiding copyright strikes.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Copyright on YouTube** [00:02] — The video addresses how to use copyrighted material without getting a copyright strike, using Evan Carmichael's channel as an example of successful use of others' clips.
- **Fair Use Defined** [01:08] — Fair use is a legal doctrine allowing use of copyrighted work under certain circumstances. Four key factors determine fair use.
- **Factor 1: Transformative Use** [01:51] — Using the work in a way that changes its meaning or value, such as creating a new narrative or educational content, is more likely fair use than simply reposting.
- **Factor 2: Amount Used** [03:09] — Using a small portion of the work relative to the whole is more justifiable as fair use than using the entire work or a large chunk.
- **Factor 3: Effect on Commercial Value** [04:06] — If your use negatively impacts the original's commercial success, it's less likely to be fair use. If it doesn't affect sales, it's more likely fair use.
- **Factor 4: Nature of the Work** [04:35] — Using published, factual works in an educational manner is more likely to be considered fair use than using unpublished or highly creative works for profit.
- **Copyright Claims and Appeals** [06:40] — Even if your use is fair use, companies may still claim your video. The appeal process has stages, and many creators don't take it to the final stage where the claimant must either concede or take you to court.
- **Final Appeal Stage** [10:11] — Taking the appeal to the final stage often results in the claimant dropping the case because they don't want to go to court over a clear fair use case.
- **Alternatives to Fair Use** [11:10] — If you want to avoid copyright issues, you can get permission from the copyright holder or use stock footage from sites like Pexels and Pixabay.
- **Evan Carmichael Case Study** [12:07] — Evan Carmichael uses clips from successful people in top 10 compilations. This works because it's transformative, uses small clips, and positively promotes the original creators, making them unlikely to claim.
- **Practical Methods to Use Clips** [16:03] — Use PlayPhrase.me to search for quotes in movies/TV shows, or find clips on YouTube and download them. If the material is already on YouTube, it's less likely to be claimed.

### Conclusion

You can legally use copyrighted material in your videos by understanding and applying fair use principles. Research fair use, consider the positive or negative impact on the original creator, and use practical tools to source clips responsibly.

## Transcript

videos without getting a copyright strike and how does Evan Carmichael build a whole channel using other people's clips but doesn't get demonetised and how can you use copyrighted material in your videos
legally we're about to explain all of that and more so sit tight what's up legends I hope you are having an incredible day and I'm hoping it's about to get even more incredible once you've
watched this video because once you understand this concepts and you're able to use other people's material in your videos I can genuinely transform your content but John isn't the copyright system on YouTube broken no I actually
don't think the copyright system on YouTube is quite as bad as most people make out I'm not saying it's perfect but the big problem is most people don't fully understand it and see the process through to completion and that means
is why you probably see a lot of people complaining about it but we will get into all the details of that later in this video the first thing we need to understand is two very important words that are going to completely transform
how you think about copyrighted material and those words are fair use now fair use is not just a YouTube thing fair use is a legal doctrine that applies to copyright law and it basically says that there are certain circumstances and
situations where you are allowed to use other people's work and their copyrighted content in your own content but to understand what those situations and circumstances are there are four key points and we're going to go through
each of them right now for simplicity I'm gonna try and translate the legal jargon of fair use into more practical and relatable terms we're all going to understand and so bearing that in mind the first point about fair use is
whether your use of the work is transformative and what I mean by that transformative and what I mean by that is are you changing the value or meaning of some way from the original work or are you just stealing it essentially so
but let's say you're watching an episode of one of your favorite TV shows since I let's look at Rekha Morty you're watching an episode you're thinking huh this is a really good episode I'm gonna post this on YouTube and so you just rip
the entire episode as a file upload it to YouTube that is definitely not fair use you have not transformed it at all that's piracy and so that is not going to go well however what I did in my video is that I took elements of wreckin
were to construct a new narrative it was a completely different work that was making a completely different point it was an educational video using using the original work but to do something completely different so just completely
taking the work and reusing it is not okay but taking it and transforming it to something new changing the meaning changing the value changing what it is changing the value changing what it is about that normally would class as being
transformative hopefully you still with me here because the second point of fair use is the amount of the copyrighted material you use in relation to the overall length of the copyrighted material so again putting that in our
Rick and Morty example when you're using a full episode you are literally taking 100% of the work and using now just using a very small clip it's actually a very tiny fraction of the whole work and so that is normally much more
so that is normally much more justifiable as fair use so it's a case of when you're looking at using copyrighted material are you trying to use the entire thing or a big chunk of it or the heart of what it's about or
are you just taking a very small element of it because if you are that's a high chance that it's gonna fall under fair use the third factor of fair use that they consider is the effects that you using the copyrighted material will have
on the commercial success of the original copyrighted material so if what you're doing with someone else's work is going to negatively affect them it's going to potentially hurt their sales stop people from buying it because they
can just watch yours instead then that is less likely to be fair use than if doesn't remotely affect the commercial success of the original then that's more likely to be fair use and then the fourth and final factor of fair use
that's a lot of F's is the nature of the copyrighted work so a couple of things here if it's something that's already been published which almost certainly it will be if you're using it that's more likely to be classed as fair use if it's
something that's factual you know for example if you're taking something from a biography or something that's been published as fact that definitely helps you're using it in kind of like an educational way you're trying to present
facts rather than just trying to purely profit from it that's gonna help your case for fair use as well and let me now just take this opportunity to still here at this point and made it through all that legal stuff shows that
your attention span is much better than most people but the fact is we have to cover those kind of boring points because that is the heart of what fair uses and once you understand that that's how you can determine whether you can
legally use other people's copyrighted material in your own work those are the key factors but just as a very final point to summarize all of this with fair use if we go back to that example I mentioned with that Rick and Morty video
I posted that was exclusively using clips from the TV show rekha Morty now hopefully you can see why that falls under fair use and why just posting an entire episode of the show Woodham because the video I did not only was it
transformational because it was changing the meaning of the original work number two it was only using a very small portion of the overall work it wasn't using an entire episode it was just little clips number three it's not
remotely affecting the commercial success of Rick and Morty people aren't gonna stop paying for Rick and Morty and stop watching the show just because of that video if anything it helps boost people watching the show maybe a couple
in fact I actually know one person who did and number four it was done with an educational intense not purely just trying to profit from it so that kind of covers all four of those fair you factors so I'm pretty sure I'm in the
factors so I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear there but and it is a big button now just because you know you are in the clear for fair use doesn't mean that someone can't still copyright claim your video and this brings us back to the
beginning of this video where I was saying a lot of youtubers complain the copyright system just doesn't work because even if it's fair you still gain people trying to claim their video and the reason for this is that some
companies who own footage like you know production companies who own the rights to movies and TV shows they're not spending time watching videos and going oh is this fair use does this hit these factors they see a video on YouTube that
is using their material and they just immediately claim it what then happens immediately claim it what then happens is the youtuber the Creator has the option to say no actually that that's fair you so I'm allowed to do that what
happens then if they do that is it goes back to the company that claimed it and they can then do one of two things they will either actually spend some time and will either actually spend some time and watch the video and go oh my bad sorry
about that here you go the videos live again you can monetize it clearly this is fair use a hub mistake that very rarely happens what normally happens and this is just a guess but I'm imagining that someone at the offices of that
production company they see that the youtuber has rejected their claim and they just go nope not having that not having that will have the money for this video thank you we'll have control of this video you're
using our copyright because probably they don't even have time or well they do have time but they're not willing to go and actually watch the video to see if it is fair you so it's just easier for them for every appeal just to reject
every single one of them and this is why people get so frustrated because they're saying clearly a real human hasn't reviewed this or they to see it was fair use and then they go to YouTube and say this isn't fair you're letting the
production company the person who owns the copyright decide if it's fair youth or not and of course they're biased but there's a final stage in this appeal process and this is the part that people don't do and that final stage is that
once you've appealed the initial claim they've rejected it you can then go back to them a final time which is what most youtubers don't do and they then either have to put your video live again and concede defeat and you get all the money
from it or they have to take you to court which I know sounds terrifying over a YouTube video but just think about this for a second if you know your video is fair use why on earth would they spend time money resources get all
that bad press for the sake of trying to take you to court over a YouTube video that clearly is fair use because these companies are gonna have lawyers and so before making a decision like trying to file a lawsuit against you the lawyers
are gonna look at it and they're gonna know that fair use exists and so they're gonna immediately see that this is fair use unless you have literally broken we just said and you've uploaded a
pirated version of it there is no logical reason they would try and take it any further and I know this option sounds scary but I've done a lot of actually take it to that final stage I
in every example I saw the youtuber one and they drop the case the YouTube have video is completely fine from then on the problem is most people don't take that step because either they don't even realize about it or more likely they see
that scary thing saying that if you're lying and it isn't fair use that you could go to court over this but as long as it is fair use as long as you have followed these guidelines and you understand them I can't see any reason
of course you need to do your own research so you feel comfortable with use and know you're in the right but if you are in the right then there's not really anything to worry about by disputing it because if it is clearly
fair use then that's a loud fair use is a legal doctrine that texe creators in this way that's what it's there for if that's all too much thinking I want to stay away from all of this then firstly I would say look into
research because it's not as bad as it sounds but number two I would say that there are other things you can do for example you can reach out and get the copyright holders permission in some cases if it's someone accessible number
two is that you could use stock footage there's free stock footage down stock there's free stock footage down stock footage you can buy to use extra b-roll and material in your video so rather than using film clips and TV shows there
that's just copy and paste into your video to kind of add an extra element to b-roll there is a free and easy alternative that's available to you there's sites like pixels and pixabay but kind of give you a huge library of
footage to use but seriously I can't stress enough I wouldn't be saying this stuff if I hadn't done fair research on it and you know that I clearly have because I myself have videos on my channel that use fair use and if I'd
done all this research and concluded that there was a chance that I was then I wouldn't have put them up but now I want to talk about Evan Carmichael because if you've ever seen his channel before you'll know he is very successful
on YouTube with well over 2 million subscribers and yet the majority of his videos are using material from other people he often takes clips from entrepreneurs and successful people and kind of remixes these clips together to
form like top 10 videos or best of videos and so a huge amount of the content on his channel is content from other people now hopefully you can we talked about earlier and realize that
quite a few of them do actually apply to Evan Carmichael's channel but there's kind of an extra element to it that I think isn't really talked about when it comes to copyright and fair use and I'm gonna call it the how does this make me
catchy name right but just for a second put yourself in the shoes of one of these successful people whoever features on his channel let's say one day you wake up and there's a top 10 video on Evan Carmichael's Channel
with the top 10 lessons that you've given out and you click on it and you realize wow he's literally taken content from my channel or from my website and rematched it into a top 10 compilation
from it now but then just think about this for a would your reaction be right I've got to get this taken down or would it actually
get this taken down or would it actually be this makes me look really good I am being positioned here as an expert on a channel with a millions of subscribers everyone is talking about me extremely positively he is literally saying I am
someone that people should learn from do I really want to take that down I really want to take that down I am losing absolutely nothing here and I am potentially gaming some new fans and definitely building my credibility
and so my guess is that very few entrepreneurs or successful people who had a video popup on Evans channel would ever think oh I need to get that down no they'll be thinking this is great and so I actually think this kind of unwritten
factor is something to hugely consider when you're thinking about using copyrighted material because on the flip side I've seen cases that 100% are
side I've seen cases that 100% are blatantly fair use but the person has been talking about another person in a very negative way and they've been using their copyrighted material to make a very negative point about them to kind
of either shame them embarrass them to highlight something terrible about them whatever it is there's a very negative association to using their content so he's kind of saying look at this expert all these great lessons in examples
where it's the reverse of that and someone is trying to tear someone down or use their own content against them to say something negative that's when the problems arise and so even if that person has done it in a way that's fair
use the person obviously who's being kind of attacked with this content is if it is and so they are gonna be fighting it all the way so I think this is an interesting way to view it am i doing
something positive for the creators of the original copyrighted material because if you are it's not really in their best interests to try and claim against you anyway there's no real reason for them to want to take it down
but on the flip side if you're doing the opposite and you are trying to you know say something negative about someone or a group of people that's when the trying to battle it out for copyright so bear that in mind as well
there we've bounced around all these different elements of copyright and fair little bit overwhelmed by at all but the bottom line is this you 100% can use
copyrighted material in your own YouTube videos in your own social media content but do a little bit more research first on fair use just so you fully understand it bear in mind whether you're putting a positive or negative slant on that
personal about copyrighted material and then make an informed decision about whether you feel comfortable posting it I'm willing to bet if you've followed actually looked into this you will be 100% fine but the very final thing you
might be wondering is the literal how do you use movie clips and TV clips in your videos and there are a couple of options number one there's a site called play phrase not me which is a search engine where you can type in the phrase you're
looking for and it will bring up some movies and TV shows that have that phrasing that you search so it's kind of like Google but you're just searching specifically within TV shows and movies so if there's a quote you have in mind
that you can picture in a TV show or you just want to find a quote based on a certain word or something you can just type that in on that website and it will bring you videos that are related and you can save them add them into your
video using any video editing software because once you've downloaded the video of the copyrighted material using any editing software you can just copy that good to go the second option now rather than using
that site is to use YouTube itself and find the material you want to use in a YouTube video in an existing YouTube video download that video and then again cut out the bit that you want cut out this
the scene or the clip or the quote that you want to use in your video because the reason I like this method in particular is that the fact is if that copyrighted material is already on YouTube and it was uploaded by someone
other than the official channel for that TV show or that movie the chances are that that production company aren't taking down videos because if the
copyrighted material is literally already on YouTube because someone else has uploaded it by the sound of it they're not looking for you know youtubers that they can go after with copyright strikes so you're probably
gonna be ok using it if it's fair use without even getting a copyright strike but you can't bank on that but as long as you're using fair use there shouldn't be an issue so you can go to youtube search for the scene that you want to
find and download the YouTube video from there so hopefully that's given you a couple of ideas about how you can do it I'm sure you can get creative with your own methods as well but if you do have any questions feel free to drop them in
the comments below and I'd be happy to try and help out if I can but just to question and that is would you like to do YouTube full time like literally replace your job with YouTube because if the answer
to that is yes then it's actually a lot more achievable than you think and I am living proof of this that even with a relatively small amount of subscribers you can build a business with the YouTube YouTube is an incredible
with it that most people just don't realize because most people are trying to be youtubers I'm saying become a YouTube magnate big difference and if
you are interested in understanding what my difference is and how you yourself can make a full time income with YouTube then please go and check out the top link in the description of this video because it is gonna help you so much
understand how you can do that and I'm excited for you because honestly people you they're too busy trying to make money from ads when that is the wrong way to do it so feel free to go and check that
out and I will see you next time Cheers [Music]