How to give music credit on Instagram post

Instagram and Copyrights have walked hand in hand right from the birth of the social media giant.

There have been few incidences where people have accused Instagram of failing to tackle copyright issues on their platform. More often than not, photographers have been victims of these issues. In many cases, their photos were stolen without their consent and were SOLD elsewhere without their permission. Imagine the horror!

But well guys, its Internet.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN HERE!

This is what Instagram has to say about Copyright appeals:

Hmmm…

This means if you appeal for copyright then and only then will the copied content be taken down!

Otherwise, you are free to use or “SHARE” media without the consent of the owner.

Instagram has made it clear in its terms and conditions that, whatever you post on Instagram may be copied/Shared/used by anyone on Instagram.

One such incident which took place in 2014, when photographer Sion Fullana’s images were shared on Spanish Vogue’s official Instagram account without credit:

Later, they apologized though.

Can you copyright Instagram photos?

No!

You cannot. The best way to ensure your media is not stolen is to not to share them on Instagram!

However, after getting sued by many photographers, Instagram decided to tackle copyright issues in a more efficient manner. In 2017, Instagram rolled out a secret update that targeted users using copyrighted music in their videos!

I have an account where I share videos quite often. I just “REPOST” them on my account.

I was unknown to this update until Instagram sent copyright claims on my email.

Here’s a snapshot:

Instagram took down many of the videos that I re-posted even though I gave full credits to their owners.

Later I found that it was not the videos that were copyrighted it was the MUSIC!

It was then when I came to know about the Instagram Copyright Music Issue!

How to Post Copyrighted Music on Instagram?

In case you love a particular music track or still want to use copyrighted music, here are few tips you can use to get around music copyright on Instagram:

1. ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO OWNERS!

No matter what content you Re-post/share, you should always give proper credit to owners. Also sometimes even after giving credits, your account may end up in danger as the owner might not want his content to be shared anywhere.

So ASK BEFORE RE-POSTING!!

Instagram itself doesn’t forget to credit the owners of the content.

Here’s a Boomerang video of a UK blogger which was shared by Instagram’s Official Account:

2. Appeal if you want to use the Music!

In case you use a copyrighted soundtrack, Instagram’s automated system may detect copyright infringement and also take your video DOWN!

Don’t panic. You can still appeal to the owners to use it. Don’t forget to give proper credits in Captions!

3. Make slight changes to the music!

Making a slight change to the music may help to skip the automated detection by Instagram, but if the owner finds your content, then you may get a copyrighted claim and your content will be removed!

You can use different Video editors (Android/IOS) to add background music to your videos!

Android: Magisto, VideoShow.
IOS: Cameo, Magisto.

4. Use Copyrighted Free Music for your Videos!

There are tons of websites on the internet that offer Copyright free Music on their website. You can use it to get around music copyrights.

Some websites that provide copyright-free music:

hooksounds.com (My Favourite!)

So this was all about copyrights on Instagram and how to handle it. Instagram has started taking artists and creator’s content seriously and after this music copyright update, you can expect video and image copyright updates later!

I suggest focusing on creating full proof content so that you will never face any copyright issues.

I am sure these tips will help you to bypass Instagram copyright music. Let me know what you think about this!

UPDATE:

Many people are facing this issue as seen in the comments below. Some users aren’t able to appeal and while some videos are still taken down even after appealing. Instagram hasn’t come forward and discussed this issue in public. The best way to avoid this would be using instrumental music of the song or completely changing the song and using copyright free music from websites listed above.

Also, If you yourself want to file a Copyright of Your Stolen Content, you can fill the Instagram copyright form here:

https://help.instagram.com/contact/372592039493026

If you have any copyrighted music appeal, you can use the above link to report to Instagram. I am sure Instagram will take the content down!

Also Read: Avoid Spam Comments on your Photos

Music is a bonding force in normal times. During difficult and isolating times like this, we know it can be even more important. As social distancing has forced everyone to stay apart, more people have turned to Instagram and Facebook Live to stay connected with their communities. This rapid rise in usage has created a lot of good during this crisis – raising money for frontline workers and underserved communities, driving awareness of healthy habits, encouraging people to stay safe by staying home, and bringing people together through new forms of entertainment. But it’s also highlighted some confusion across the community -- especially around the use of recorded music in Live on both Facebook and Instagram.

At its core, Live brings people together in a real-time and unproduced way, which has opened up new creative opportunities for many creators, artists, and other public figures.

So as we continue building for the long term, we’re sharing guidelines and product improvements around music in Instagram and Facebook videos and livestreams.

Clarifying Our Guidelines for Including Music in Video

We want to encourage musical expression on our platforms while also ensuring that we uphold our agreements with rights holders. These agreements help protect the artists, songwriters, and partners who are the cornerstone of the music community -- and we're grateful for how they've enabled the amazing creativity we've seen in this time.

Our partnerships with rights holders have brought people together around music on our platforms. As part of our licensing agreements, there are limitations around the amount of recorded music that can be included in Live broadcasts or videos. While the specifics of our licensing agreements are confidential, today we’re sharing some general guidelines to help you plan your videos better:

• Music in stories and traditional live music performances (e.g., filming an artist or band performing live) are permitted.

• The greater the number of full-length recorded tracks in a video, the more likely it may be limited (more below on what we mean by “limited”).

• For that reason, shorter clips of music are recommended.

• There should always be a visual component to your video; recorded audio should not be the primary purpose of the video.

These guidelines are consistent across live and recorded video on both Facebook and Instagram, and for all types of accounts -- i.e. pages, profiles, verified and unverified accounts. And although music is launched on our platforms in more than 90 countries, there are places where it is not yet available. So if your video includes recorded music, it may not be available for use in those locations.

People also have access to a library of custom music and sound effects at no cost using Facebook’s Sound Collection. The Sound Collection includes thousands of tracks available to use in the videos you share on Facebook and Instagram without any limits – spanning genres like hip-hop, pop, jazz, country, and more.

In-Product Video Notifications

We know it can be frustrating to have a stream interrupted or to have parts of your video muted because it includes music. To minimize these interruptions and to prevent confusion around audio use, we’re also improving our in-product notifications. These notifications are intended to alert you when our systems detect that your broadcast or uploaded video may include music in a way that doesn’t adhere to our licensing agreements.

Updates include making notifications clearer and surfacing notifications earlier to live broadcasters, to give people time to adjust their streams and avoid interruptions if we detect they may be approaching our limitations. And if your video is muted or blocked, we’ll make it clear what actions you can take to stop the interruption.

Looking to The Future

With these improvements, we look forward to people, artists, and creators continuing to use music to share and bond with each other across our platforms.

We will continue to work hand-in-hand with our music partners to enable people to build community with music in new ways, and especially during this time, we’re working together to maximize people’s ability to express themselves through our products.