IMovie music in Monetized YouTube videos

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Level 1

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IMovie music in Monetized YouTube videos

Apple shamelessly promotes iMovie as having royalty-free music that we are “free to use”. I’ve been doing so for a year with no issues. This week after spending 100+ hours producing a video within my hobby niche, the video was flagged on YouTube by the legitimate original copyright owner of 1 of the 9 background songs in the video. He says that because the video is monetized, that’s a commercial use and does not fall under Apple’s iMovie license. Talked to a media guy within Apple’s iMovie group, and all he could offer is that many times these are not the legitimate copyright owners who are making these claims. But I have talked to the copyright owner by emailing him via the company website, and yes, he is the legitimate copyright owner of the song, and is the same guy reviewing my YouTube copyright dispute. So Apple is offering me nothing helpful to resolve the issue.

Has Apple misled us in their marketing materials? Are we not truly free to use the iMovie built-in background music in our projects? Is there verbiage buried in the 297 page iMovie software license document that contradicts their brazen marketing claims about iMovie’s free-to-use audio? If I monetize the video on YouTube, must all of its ad revenue go to the copyright owner of only 1 of the 9 songs used in the video, even though YouTube viewers are watching the ads in order to see the video of marble runs I build. None of them are clicking on my video saying, “Oooh, I want to hear that background music song. Let’s watch this video to hear it.”

It’s just supremely disappointing to be misled by Apple, having put 16 days into a project only to get hassled at the finish line by a copyright claim, when to my knowledge I was within bounds!

Posted on Jul 11, 2022 6:55 PM

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Answer 1

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Rich839

Level 8

48,168 points

Jul 12, 2022 8:48 AM in response to Onthuhlist

Copyright and license issues are complicated and can indeed be frustrating to a consumer who is trying to navigate the briar patch of legalities.

As with any legal matter involving copyrights or licenses you are advised to retain legal counsel to advise you. The following remarks are intended only as discussion, and are not to be regarded as legal advice.

The 8 page (not 297 page) iMovie license agreement can be found by opening iMovie and clicking on the menu item iMovie/About iMovie/License Agreement. The license agreement will set forth your rights regarding the iMovie software and Audio media content. You should read the entire agreement, but pay particular attention to the preamble note and to paragraphs 2F and 2G.

Please note that "royalty free" does not necessarily mean copyright free. You may be able to use an iMovie audio sample in your own project, for personal, non-commercial use, without paying a royalty. That does not necessarily mean that you may publicly distribute and make commercial use of it absent the copyright owner's permission. As the license agreement says, if you are uncertain about your legal rights to use the material you should consult your legal advisor.

You've communicated with the copyright owner and apparently he will not give you permission to use the audio clip on You Tube for monetary purposes. He argues that the Apple license grants rights only for personal non-commercial use. You would need to consult your legal advisor to determine whether the argument has legal merit. I suppose you could counter-argue that the personal, non-commercial, use restriction applies to audio content only when the audio is published as a standalone, and not part of a video project. Maybe that would persuade him to let you use the song.

In any event, if the copyright owner will not give you written permission then You Tube likely will pull it down or you would use the audio sample at your own risk.

Since the song at issue is only one of nine in the project, you may want to consider substituting a different song or repeat the use of one of the other eight songs. That would be your call, of course.

Sorry that you are having this trouble.

-- Rich

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Answer 2

Rich839

Level 8

48,168 points

Jul 17, 2022 9:47 AM in response to Onthuhlist

Yes, from a consumer standpoint the iMovie license agreement is not a paragon of clarity, as indicated by the numerous posts on this forum raising the very issue that you mention.

Apple does have a "legal" website where you may be able to find some answers.

Legal - Contact Us - Apple

You are right that "Personal Use" is not defined in the iMovie license agreement. It may be defined in the Copyright law or subsumed under the "fair use" doctrine. Paragraph 2J of the license agreement does require "compliance with all applicable laws" which might rope in the copyright law itself. As I say, you would need a lawyer to straighten all that out. For more information you can Google "Copyright law personal use" and see what comes up. I have heard that in some countries simply publishing to the internet takes it out of "personal use".

I am a consumer and not a spokesperson for Apple. The overriding umbrella for use of iMovie audio content seems to be that the use must be personal and non-commercial. Publishing to the internet and monetizing the project could well take it out of "personal and non-commercial". You might refer to the "Important Note" in the preamble of the license agreement that deals with publishing, reproducing, distributing and modifying of content. As an example, Hollywood movie credits are very careful about documenting permissions. Could one use iMovie to make a Hollywood movie without the express written consent of the copyright holders of iMovie audio content?

In any event, these are thorny legal issues that only your legal advisor can answer.

-- Rich

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Answer 3

Onthuhlist Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 17, 2022 3:35 AM in response to Rich839

Rich,

Thanks for your response.

Sorry, I was off ... the license document is a 294 page pdf, not 297 pages. Only now do I see that after page 8 it's just other languages. Whew! I wasn't about to start delving into it based on the 294 page length, and I didn't know when reading page 1 that the language changed on page 9.

Back to the matter at hand: I think this is the applicable part of the license agreement: "Except as otherwise provided, all Media Content included in the Apple Software may be used on a royalty-free basis in your own video projects but may not be distributed on a standalone basis (and audio Media Content may only be used for your own personal, non-commercial use)."

Perhaps the vagueness in my mind comes from what the definition is of personal, non-commercial. Does that include videos generated of my personal hobby, if I run that video on YouTube with ads that garner maybe $40 a month, just enough to do some product giveaways occasionally? That is the lawyer question.

There seems to be some vagueness in the English of that sentence, for if the clause in parentheses is merely parenthetical to the sentence that it's a part of, then it would mean that I can't distribute the music on a stand-alone basis, nor can I commercialize that stand-alone music. But if the clause in parenthesis is really a stand-alone thought that should have been given its own separate sentence, then it would mean that no only can I not distribute the music on a stand-alone basis, but I also cannot use it in a video from which I earn ad revenue.

Need to know which meaning is the clear English reading of the license agreement. I wish I knew their intent when they wrote it with parentheses like that.

Let me add some specifics of what Apple is claiming as well online. On this page (Add a soundtrack and sound effects to your iMovie project - Apple Support), Apple states, "iMovie includes built-in soundtrack music and sound effects that you're free to use in your iMovie projects," and "iMovie for iOS and iPad OS includes a collection of soundtracks and sound effects created by well-known composers and artists that you’re free to use in your project."

So is Apple lying to me? Am I not really free to use them in my projects??

Thanks for your input.

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IMovie music in Monetized YouTube videos

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