Exempt Channels From Claims (Custom Allowlist)

In some situations, you may want to prevent Content ID from claiming videos that certain YouTube channels upload. For example, a production music library may want a channel to be able to use their music without receiving a claim. You can exempt channels from Content ID claims by adding them to your Custom Allowlist.

What is a Custom Allowlist?

Your Custom Allowlist is a list of channels that are permitted to use your content without receiving a copyright claim. You can allow a channel to use all, some, or only one of your assets.

When does the Custom Allowlist release a claim?

Assets can be tagged with Custom Labels. For each channel on your Custom Allowlist, you can indicate which Custom Labels the channel is permitted to use.

Whenever a channel (identified by its channel ID) that is on your Custom Allowlist receives a claim for an asset which has the same Custom Label you allowlisted that channel for, the claim is automatically released.

If the uploader (briefly) sees a Content ID claim before it is released depends on your asset's match policy, which you can select during the content delivery process:

• Route to Monetize: Custom Allowlist will automatically release the claim before it becomes active, so the uploader will not even briefly receive a claim. This is required for AutoLicense assets and other assets that are licensed at scale.

• Monetize: Custom Allowlist will automatically release the claim after it has been imported to our system. This is usually between 1 and 48 hours after the video was published. The uploader might briefly see a claim in the meantime.

The Custom Allowlist only applies to claims that are imported after the channel was added. Previous claims are not automatically released.

You can manually release existing claims after adding a channel.

How do I add a channel to my Custom Allowlist?

Go to the "Custom Allowlist" tab, enter the channel ID and the Custom Labels this channel should be allowed to use, and click "Add".

You can edit the Custom Labels a channel is allowed to use by clicking "Edit", changing the labels, and clicking "Save" in the channel's row.

How do I remove a channel from my Custom Allowlist?

Go to the "Custom Allowlist" tab, click "Edit" next to the channel, delete all Custom Labels, and click "Save". The channel will be removed from your Custom Allowlist.

Previously released claims stay inactive, but videos uploaded after you removed the channel will receive claims.

How can I find a channel's ID?

Go to the channel's "About" section, click on "Share channel" and click "Copy channel ID".

Common Use Cases

This section contains guides for our clients' most common use cases. Depending on your situation, you will want to add different Custom Labels to a channel's entry on your Custom Allowlist.

For example, you may want to allow a channel to …

• … use all of your assets: Enter the Custom Label "_licensor_[your ID]". It is automatically applied to all of your assets. You can copy the Custom Label from any of your assets' detail pages.

• … use all assets by a specific artist (sound recording assets only): Enter the Custom Label "_artist_[artist name]". It is automatically applied to all assets by this artist. You can copy the Custom Label from any of this artist's assets' detail pages.

• … use one or multiple specific assets: Every sound recording asset has an auto-generated Custom Label that is specific to only this label. You can copy the Custom Label from the assets' detail page.