Stephen Mandel Joseph is a published

writer, art student, and filmmaking enthu-

siast. He has directed several Sci-Fi 3D

animated shorts and a short drama film on

video. He currently resides in New York

City.

Most fair use falls into these
three categories: Criticism, com-
mentary and parody.
So let’s say you are comment-
ing on a recent political event that
involves Donald Trump. You want
to use a photo of him for political
satire or commentary, you can use
in “fair use” to prevent someone
from sending you a cease and de-
sist letter, or sending you a DMCA
“takedown” order. Other examples
of using fair use in your videos can
include when you use a short clip
of copyrighted music to critique or
praise it.
Therefore, as long as you’re us-
ing copyrighted material, such as
photos, video clips, music, etc., you
can claim “fair use.” Just be sure
it’s for the purpose of criticism,
commentary or parody. As a rule
of thumb, use only short clips of
video or music and make it a habit
to draft a disclaimer for your video
content.

WHY SHOULD YOU USE A
DISCLAIMER?
You’ll see disclaimers used more
frequently on websites and in
blogs. However, they are rarely
seen in videos, especially on sites
such as YouTube, Facebook and
Twitch. However, without a dis-

Everything you should know about a fair use disclaimer

claimer, you can face serious legal

troubles. Any sharing of informa-

tion and data on the web should

have a disclaimer, whether it is in

video or text. A disclaimer is a legal

statement that outlines rights,

liabilities and risks that may be ex-

pected when a user reads or views

website content.

There are five legal issues ap-

plicable to video disclaimers. You

can get a thorough understanding

and better breakdown of those

disclaimers on the following site

for further reading:

https://www.termsfeed.com/blog/

disclaimer-examples/

As a creator, you will want to fa-

miliarize yourself with the basic le-

gal issues addressed by disclaimers.

This is especially important when

you’re deciding on which one works

best for your video and content.

The frequently used disclaimers fo-

cus on professional liability, general

liability, content control, fair use

and use at your own risk. Each one

addresses different issues.

How you intend to use the copy-

righted work is important because

the law and courts favor uses that

aren’t designed to make money off

the source. (source: https://www.

termsfeed.com/blog/fair-use-

disclaimer)

SHORT

Disclaimer: The information

provided on Creator Handbook

does not, and is not intended to,

constitute legal advice; instead, all

information, content, and materi-

als available on this site are for

general informational purposes

only. The information on this

website may not constitute the

most up-to-date legal or other in-

formation. This website contains

links to other third-party web-

sites. Such links are only for the

convenience of the reader, user or

browser; Creator Handbook does

not recommend or endorse the

contents of the third-party sites.

Here’s an example of a fair use–copyright disclaimer from a YouTube video

AS A CREATOR,

YOU’LL WANT

TO FAMILIARIZE

YOURSELF WITH

THE BASIC

LEGAL ISSUES

ADDRESSED BY

DISCLAIMERS.

“