A lot of beat makers build their audience on YouTube and SoundCloud before they ever release anything properly. It's also where most producers first run into copyright. For the general picture, see the complete guide to sample clearance.
The short answer
Legally, yes. Copyright doesn't have a "free upload" exception. Uploading a song with an uncleared sample is using someone else's work, whether it's monetized or not.
In practice, what happens depends on each platform's systems, and whether the rights holder is paying attention.
YouTube: claims vs strikes
YouTube has two very different mechanisms.
| Content ID claim | Copyright strike | |
|---|---|---|
| How it happens | Automatic audio match | A rights holder files a formal takedown |
| What happens to the video | Owner can monetize, block or track it | Video is removed |
| Hits your channel? | No | Yes |
| Adds up? | No | Three active strikes can terminate your channel |
A claim is annoying: the rights holder might take your video's ad revenue or block it in some countries. A strike is serious. Strikes expire after 90 days if you complete YouTube's Copyright School, but three at once can take down your whole channel, and an active strike can limit what your channel is allowed to do in the meantime.
SoundCloud: automated blocks and takedown strikes
SoundCloud's content identification system scans every upload, including private tracks. If it matches your track to a rights holder's catalog, the track can be blocked. SoundCloud says blocks from its automated system don't give you a strike.
Manual takedowns are different. If a rights holder reports your track directly and you can't successfully dispute it, a strike is added to your account, and accounts that pass two strikes are permanently terminated.
"No copyright infringement intended"
Writing a disclaimer in your description, crediting the original artist, or tagging it "for non-profit use" doesn't change anything legally. Credit isn't permission, and intent doesn't matter to a copyright claim.
Protecting your channel
- Don't upload uncleared samples to the channel you care about most. A strike there costs you more than the beat is worth.
- Label sampled beats honestly if you do upload them, so artists know what they're getting.
- Use cleared samples for anything you want to keep up long-term, especially beats you're selling.
- Keep your licenses. If you get a claim for a sample you did license, dispute it with the proof. See Content ID and samples.
Building a channel on cleared sounds
Soul Sample Club samples are original compositions, pre-cleared for commercial use, and we don't register them with Content ID. So your beat videos don't get claimed by us, and beats built on them can be sold and released.
