YouTube Copyright Claim Dispute?

Just because the claimant used the photo first doesn't mean that they had the right to use it any more than you did. They may not own the photo either. The license language indicates that Apple licensed to you the right to use it "royalty free" in your projects, but just can't distribute it on a standalone basis. I would argue that you are licensed and legally entitled to use it. The question is whether you want to challenge it. Totally your call.

-- Rich

Be sure to review You Tube's rules about disputing a copyright claim. I think that if you file a dispute and later change your mind and withdraw it, you can't later make the claim again.

-- Rich

This question comes up from time to time. YouTube and Facebook are both wrong.

There are a number of con-men who think that they can earn a quick buck from claiming that they own the copyright to Apple’s royalty-free jingles and sound effects included with the iLife applications. These are all free to use, as clearly stated in section 2.C of the iLife Software License Agreement:

“You may use the Apple and third party audio content (“Audio Content”) contained in or otherwise included with the Apple software, on a royalty-free basis, to create your own original soundtracks for your video and audio projects. You may broadcast and/or distribute your own soundtracks that were created using the Audio Content, however, individual samples, sound sets, or audio content may not be commercially or otherwise distributed on a standalone basis, nor may they be repackaged in whole or in part as audio samples, sound files, sound effects or music beds.”

http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/ilife09.pdf

You should quote this (also providing the above link) when following the dispute process with YouTube or Facebook.

It's anybody's guess as to who owns the copyright to the background photo. Your rights would be determined by the license agreement applicable to the iMovie version that you used to create the video. Open that version and click on the menu item iMovie/About iMovie/License Agreement and you can try to make heads or tails out of the license language.

The claimant's video is dated 1993, so probably they used the photo before you did. You can dispute the claim and hassle with them. However, there are tons of free stock cloud photos on the web. You might want to pull down your video and change the background photo. Or maybe snap a cloud photo of your own.

Nice song by the way. Wish I could write stuff like that.

-- Rich