The Monetary Map: Mr. Beast’s Financials Uncovered

Have you ever wondered how much a YouTuber might make by just uploading a video? Does it intrigue you how the famous YouTubers became famous in the first place?

Well quite reasonably, YouTube has given so many artists a platform to showcase their talent and earn easily. One such YouTuber is Mr. Beast, who has not only earned a lot but also has been an inspiration to many for making creative content and generating income.

We will now go through the life of Mr. Beast and know how much Mr. Beast earns, what his net worth is, and how you can be a successful YouTuber in a few simple steps.

1. How to create quality content with Wondershare Filmora

Part 1: Who is Mr. Beast?

Jimmy Donaldson, famously known as Mr. Beast, is a sensational young talent who got renowned due to his YouTube channel. His content comprises mainly Gameplay Videos, Worst intros, and much more. He’s also appreciated for his philanthropy and his deep love for charity.

Here’s a quick biography of Mr. Beast.

Mr. Beast’s (Jimmy Donaldson) Biography
Real Name	Jimmy Donaldson
Age	24 Years
Gender	Male
Height	6 feet 3 inches
Nationality	American
Profession	YouTuber, Content Creator
Net Worth	$40 Million
Monthly Income and Salary	$3 Million
Yearly Income in India Rupees	$30 Million

After getting an overview of who he is, the following article will reveal what makes Jimmy so famous on YouTube and how much money Mr. Beast makes from YouTube.

Part 2: Mr. Beast YouTube Income

Mr. Beast is the second most known YouTuber in the world, in terms of the number of subscribers. He has established himself as a successful YouTube at such a young age by earning around $30 million yearly, which makes his bank accounts boil.

Mr. Beast’s YouTube income is around $3 Million per month, which mostly goes back into making the videos. Most of his income is generated through ads, sponsored posts, and brand deals.

Mr.Beast’s YouTube Stats
Total Videos Uploaded	728 videos
Subscribers	104 million
Overall Video views	16.6 Billion
Last 30 Days’ views	340.7 Million
Estimated Monthly Earnings	$ 550.31K - $ 1.7M
Estimated Yearly Earnings	$12 Million

As you know, YouTube operates on a cbasis. This means per 1000 views, you can expect to make $3-$10. By estimated calculations, Mr. Beast makes $500,000 -$1 million per video.

The data represents Mr. Beast’s YouTube earning of last 6 years. His earnings were substantially low since the start of his YouTube career in early 2017 when he posted his first video of counting 100,000 . However, it began to increase with time.

Part 3: Why is Mr. Beast Trending on YouTube?

Mr. Beast is known for going above and beyond for his YouTube content. He also runs other YouTube channels, besides Mr. Beast, that are mainly based on Philanthropy, Gaming videos, Short Videos, etc that also account for his huge income. Some of the reasons why he is so successful are

A Relentless amount of work and effort:

Mr. Beast has put in a relentless amount of work and effort into his videos. He has been making videos at the age of 13.

Specified target audience:

Mr. Beast makes videos that are based on enduring challenges and cash prizes to the winners. The audience of his videos, the contestants specially, are those people who are in need of money or are low-paid workers, waiters and Uber Drivers etc.

Engaging Videos:

The most unique thing about Mr. Beast’s videos is that he has the least appearance in them. He mostly focuses on something that the viewers can engage with: the contestants, the unique and expensive video sets and the storyline. If you have to watch a video just to learn a way to earn a $100,000, won’t you do it?

Here’s the typical flow of a MrBeast video:

1. He introduces a challenge
2. He then explains the rules
3. He announces a reward (Cash/ Merchandise/ Car)
4. He then follows the contestants as they face the challenge
5. Lastly he gives the winner lots of money

Skillfully Edited Videos

Mr. Beast’s carefully crafted videos have a unique element of motion graphics throughout his video that not only make the video colorful and interactive. Moreover, each clip is only seconds long, which creates a fast yet exciting pace for his content, that makes you hooked to the video.

Have a look at his most viewed video that captured around 245 million views. It showcased a Real-life Squid Game challenge!

$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!

Feel-Good Element

You might have looked at the creative side of Mr. Beast uptil now, but he is also a very generous human. While helping people in terms of cash prizes, he donates most of his income to his family, friends, and charity.

The keen element of his video is to generate enough engagement that would help him spare the money for the poor, and that is what stands him out.

Bonus Tips: How To Be a Successful YouTuber and Make Videos Like Mr. Beast

Becoming a successful YouTuber like MrBeast is not too complicated. Here are some bonus tips:

Put Efforts

People put loads of effort and money into making the kind of videos that would gain popularity and, in turn, provide them with an excellent earning opportunity.

Understand the Audience

Knowing what the audience demands and how your content can be more engaging are a key to becoming popular.

Hire an expert team

Along with the research, your online presence and how you present yourself are essential. Even though you may lay the foundations of a channel, the team helps you, with their expertise, in making successful content to upload. This would increase the chance of videos becoming popular.

Produce Quality Content

Lastly, creating quality content is essential for a successful YouTuber. Making and editing videos is a straightforward process that can be carried out using various softwares.

Once you deliver your all, patience is all you need since no YouTuber has become trending in a day!

Let us now understand how you can make quality content in Wondershare Filmora.

How to create quality content with Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is one of those softwares that are easy to understand and can help make great videos at home.

Here’s a brief outlook on the few steps you need to carry out to make or edit a video and make it more engaging.

Steps to create or edit a video in Filmora:

You need to have downloaded a trial version of Wondershare Filmora before you begin:

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step1 Import files

By clicking on ‘import,’ you can access the folder to browse the videos you need.

This software gives easy access to videos necessary for the edit and helps you manage them later during the edit. All the files are in the album shown in the left tray, and the ones needed can be displayed in the right window by double-clicking them.

Step2 Insert the video in timelines

To insert a video in the timeline section, drag and drop the files from the media library that will serve as the background video in the first track, then drag and drop another video that you want to add on top of the background video in the second track.

Step3 Alter Speed and Duration Settings

You may alter the duration of the video using the Speed and Duration Settings.

Similarly, if you want to add more than one video together, you can carry out the same process on multiple tracks to share the same frame.

Step4 Adjust the size and positioning of the video

You can also access the editing interface to adjust the position of the video on top. Simply drag the sliders on the interface to change the size, direction and position of the video.

Step5 Advance editing

Some advanced editing can also be done to make the video more impressive. Double-click the video to open the editing panel. You can carry out multiple tasks like

1. Applying motion effects

2. Adjust the tone of video

3. Change the colors of video

4. Play with the audio.

Filmora also has the feature of applying masks to the video; these come in different shapes and positions and can be adjusted accordingly.

Step6 Add effects, stock video, elements, and transitions from Filmora’s vast library

Filmora has additional features like stock photos and video footage that can be added to enhance the beauty of the video content.

Effects:

Go to the top menu and click on effects; you can find many of them; they are categorized in the left vertical menu.

Stock Videos:

Go to the official site of Filmora video stocks . There are a large number of video templates, stock videos, images, and audio files.

You can also access the stock videos from Pixels, Giphy, Pixabay, and Unsplash without leaving the Filmora Software. Go to the Stock Media section in the top menu to access these.

Now you can easily find content to make your videos attractive.

Elements:

Filmora has an extensive stock of Elements; with the proper use of Elements in YouTube videos, you can make them engaging and interactive. You already know the importance of interactive videos.

Find multiple elements from the Element section beside the effects and transition section in Filmora.

Transition:

Transition smoothens the video, especially when various clips are combined. Use transitions from the Filmora Transition section and set the stage for the next scene, convey the mood and smoothen your YouTube video.

The presence of this library reduces the labor of finding images on the internet, makes them accessible to the user, and makes the video interesting.

Step7 Export and save the video

The video is saved by simply clicking ‘ Export.’ You can always share the video online or offline, either publish directly on social media or save it on your computer for later upload.

The quality content that you obtain from Filmora can now be used to inspire millions of viewers out there. You are just an upload away!

Final Words

YouTube has made careers of a lot of people under the banner of creative video content that could otherwise go unnoticed.

No doubt, Mr. Beast has become a leading artist on this platform and made a tremendous amount of money through it, which inspires billions of people what they can achieve with a little creativity and loads of passion!

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Part 1: Who is Mr. Beast?

Jimmy Donaldson, famously known as Mr. Beast, is a sensational young talent who got renowned due to his YouTube channel. His content comprises mainly Gameplay Videos, Worst intros, and much more. He’s also appreciated for his philanthropy and his deep love for charity.

Here’s a quick biography of Mr. Beast.

Mr. Beast’s (Jimmy Donaldson) Biography
Real Name	Jimmy Donaldson
Age	24 Years
Gender	Male
Height	6 feet 3 inches
Nationality	American
Profession	YouTuber, Content Creator
Net Worth	$40 Million
Monthly Income and Salary	$3 Million
Yearly Income in India Rupees	$30 Million

After getting an overview of who he is, the following article will reveal what makes Jimmy so famous on YouTube and how much money Mr. Beast makes from YouTube.

Part 2: Mr. Beast YouTube Income

Mr. Beast is the second most known YouTuber in the world, in terms of the number of subscribers. He has established himself as a successful YouTube at such a young age by earning around $30 million yearly, which makes his bank accounts boil.

Mr. Beast’s YouTube income is around $3 Million per month, which mostly goes back into making the videos. Most of his income is generated through ads, sponsored posts, and brand deals.

Mr.Beast’s YouTube Stats
Total Videos Uploaded	728 videos
Subscribers	104 million
Overall Video views	16.6 Billion
Last 30 Days’ views	340.7 Million
Estimated Monthly Earnings	$ 550.31K - $ 1.7M
Estimated Yearly Earnings	$12 Million

As you know, YouTube operates on a cbasis. This means per 1000 views, you can expect to make $3-$10. By estimated calculations, Mr. Beast makes $500,000 -$1 million per video.

The data represents Mr. Beast’s YouTube earning of last 6 years. His earnings were substantially low since the start of his YouTube career in early 2017 when he posted his first video of counting 100,000 . However, it began to increase with time.

Part 3: Why is Mr. Beast Trending on YouTube?

Mr. Beast is known for going above and beyond for his YouTube content. He also runs other YouTube channels, besides Mr. Beast, that are mainly based on Philanthropy, Gaming videos, Short Videos, etc that also account for his huge income. Some of the reasons why he is so successful are

A Relentless amount of work and effort:

Mr. Beast has put in a relentless amount of work and effort into his videos. He has been making videos at the age of 13.

Specified target audience:

Mr. Beast makes videos that are based on enduring challenges and cash prizes to the winners. The audience of his videos, the contestants specially, are those people who are in need of money or are low-paid workers, waiters and Uber Drivers etc.

Engaging Videos:

The most unique thing about Mr. Beast’s videos is that he has the least appearance in them. He mostly focuses on something that the viewers can engage with: the contestants, the unique and expensive video sets and the storyline. If you have to watch a video just to learn a way to earn a $100,000, won’t you do it?

Here’s the typical flow of a MrBeast video:

1. He introduces a challenge
2. He then explains the rules
3. He announces a reward (Cash/ Merchandise/ Car)
4. He then follows the contestants as they face the challenge
5. Lastly he gives the winner lots of money

Skillfully Edited Videos

Mr. Beast’s carefully crafted videos have a unique element of motion graphics throughout his video that not only make the video colorful and interactive. Moreover, each clip is only seconds long, which creates a fast yet exciting pace for his content, that makes you hooked to the video.

Have a look at his most viewed video that captured around 245 million views. It showcased a Real-life Squid Game challenge!

$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!

Feel-Good Element

You might have looked at the creative side of Mr. Beast uptil now, but he is also a very generous human. While helping people in terms of cash prizes, he donates most of his income to his family, friends, and charity.

The keen element of his video is to generate enough engagement that would help him spare the money for the poor, and that is what stands him out.

Bonus Tips: How To Be a Successful YouTuber and Make Videos Like Mr. Beast

Becoming a successful YouTuber like MrBeast is not too complicated. Here are some bonus tips:

Put Efforts

People put loads of effort and money into making the kind of videos that would gain popularity and, in turn, provide them with an excellent earning opportunity.

Understand the Audience

Knowing what the audience demands and how your content can be more engaging are a key to becoming popular.

Hire an expert team

Along with the research, your online presence and how you present yourself are essential. Even though you may lay the foundations of a channel, the team helps you, with their expertise, in making successful content to upload. This would increase the chance of videos becoming popular.

Produce Quality Content

Lastly, creating quality content is essential for a successful YouTuber. Making and editing videos is a straightforward process that can be carried out using various softwares.

Once you deliver your all, patience is all you need since no YouTuber has become trending in a day!

Let us now understand how you can make quality content in Wondershare Filmora.

How to create quality content with Wondershare Filmora

Wondershare Filmora is one of those softwares that are easy to understand and can help make great videos at home.

Here’s a brief outlook on the few steps you need to carry out to make or edit a video and make it more engaging.

Steps to create or edit a video in Filmora:

You need to have downloaded a trial version of Wondershare Filmora before you begin:

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Step1 Import files

By clicking on ‘import,’ you can access the folder to browse the videos you need.

This software gives easy access to videos necessary for the edit and helps you manage them later during the edit. All the files are in the album shown in the left tray, and the ones needed can be displayed in the right window by double-clicking them.

Step2 Insert the video in timelines

To insert a video in the timeline section, drag and drop the files from the media library that will serve as the background video in the first track, then drag and drop another video that you want to add on top of the background video in the second track.

Step3 Alter Speed and Duration Settings

You may alter the duration of the video using the Speed and Duration Settings.

Similarly, if you want to add more than one video together, you can carry out the same process on multiple tracks to share the same frame.

Step4 Adjust the size and positioning of the video

You can also access the editing interface to adjust the position of the video on top. Simply drag the sliders on the interface to change the size, direction and position of the video.

Step5 Advance editing

Some advanced editing can also be done to make the video more impressive. Double-click the video to open the editing panel. You can carry out multiple tasks like

1. Applying motion effects

2. Adjust the tone of video

3. Change the colors of video

4. Play with the audio.

Filmora also has the feature of applying masks to the video; these come in different shapes and positions and can be adjusted accordingly.

Step6 Add effects, stock video, elements, and transitions from Filmora’s vast library

Filmora has additional features like stock photos and video footage that can be added to enhance the beauty of the video content.

Effects:

Go to the top menu and click on effects; you can find many of them; they are categorized in the left vertical menu.

Stock Videos:

Go to the official site of Filmora video stocks . There are a large number of video templates, stock videos, images, and audio files.

You can also access the stock videos from Pixels, Giphy, Pixabay, and Unsplash without leaving the Filmora Software. Go to the Stock Media section in the top menu to access these.

Now you can easily find content to make your videos attractive.

Elements:

Filmora has an extensive stock of Elements; with the proper use of Elements in YouTube videos, you can make them engaging and interactive. You already know the importance of interactive videos.

Find multiple elements from the Element section beside the effects and transition section in Filmora.

Transition:

Transition smoothens the video, especially when various clips are combined. Use transitions from the Filmora Transition section and set the stage for the next scene, convey the mood and smoothen your YouTube video.

The presence of this library reduces the labor of finding images on the internet, makes them accessible to the user, and makes the video interesting.

Step7 Export and save the video

The video is saved by simply clicking ‘ Export.’ You can always share the video online or offline, either publish directly on social media or save it on your computer for later upload.

The quality content that you obtain from Filmora can now be used to inspire millions of viewers out there. You are just an upload away!

Final Words

YouTube has made careers of a lot of people under the banner of creative video content that could otherwise go unnoticed.

No doubt, Mr. Beast has become a leading artist on this platform and made a tremendous amount of money through it, which inspires billions of people what they can achieve with a little creativity and loads of passion!

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Harnessing the Benefits with Creative Commons Licenses

How to Use Creative Commons Copyright Licenses [Complete Guide]

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

You might have noticed that, when you post a video, you get to choose how you want to copyright it: standard license, or creative commons. You’ve also probably noticed that when you looking for royalty-free music or stock footage a lot of it is licensed through creative commons.

So, what exactly are creative commons ?

To hold the copyright to a creative work means that you own it, and anybody who wants to use your work for anything (i.e. uses a song you composed in their YouTube video) has to do so on your terms. When you license your work through creative commons you do not give up your rights to your creative work (a common misconception).

When you use a creative commons license you are outlining the terms under which other creators are allowed to use your creations in their projects for free if they credit you for your work.

If you do not want anyone using your work for free in any context, you stick to traditional copyrighting.

But if you’ve created a piece of music, a photograph, or a clip that you wouldn’t mind other people using, potentially as a way to get your name out there, you might want to consider creative commons.

There are 6 different creative commons licenses. Which is right for you will depend on your answers to these two questions:

Are you okay with a creator making money off of something they create using your work?

Are you okay with a creator producing a derivative of your work?

To say ‘no derivatives’ is to say ‘I’m okay with people using it, so long as they don’t change it’. One example of a derivative is a techno remix of a song. If you are alright with other creators making derivatives of your work, you may also want to require them to ‘ShareAlike’. ShareAlike means that the creator of that techno remix of your song has to use the same creative commons license you used for your original to distribute the remix.

An example of a derivative someone might make of a YouTube video would be auto-tuning it to make a song or cutting up your video to make one that’s just ‘the funny parts’.

Here are the 6 creative commons licenses, and a chart you can use as a quick reference tool.

Attribution – CC BY

If you’re using music or other media with this license, all you need to do is credit the artist.

If you license your video this way, people can do whatever they like with any element of it (video or sound) so long as they credit you. I.e. if someone wanted to mute your clips and use you as stock footage in a bigger project, they could.

Attribution-ShareAlike – CC BY-SA

If you use music, photos, or any other media licensed this way, then you must both credit the artist and license your video this same way. Meaning, you can’t use YouTube’s standard license and must instead allow for others to use your work the way you are using the licensed media.

If you apply this license to your video, you’re saying you don’t mind people using all or portions of your video for their project so long as they allow others to use their work in the same way.

Attribution-NoDerivs – CC BY-ND

This one can get tricky.

Essentially, you can use media licensed this way so long as you don’t alter it or create a different version. For example, you can’t take a song licensed this way and use it in a mashup with another song. That part is clear. Where it gets tricky is when you want to use a song in your video.

Under normal copyright rules, using a royalty-free song in the background of your video would not count as creating a derivative. The definition of derivative according to creative commons is a bit broader and includes ‘syncing’. This means you can’t take an ‘Attribution-NoDerivs’ song and create any kind of music video for it.

For example, you can’t edit clips of yourself snowboarding so that they’re in sync with a song that has this license.

Whether or not you can play the song in the background of your vlog while you are speaking can be a bit of a grey area. In theory, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re accessing the music through a social site like SoundCloud then it might be best to ask the artist first.

There’s no reason to license your YouTube videos this way. If people cannot alter your video, all that’s left is for them to repost it. Even though they’d also be crediting you, they’d still essentially be stealing views and ad revenue from your original video.

Attribution-NonCommercial – CC BY-NC

If you’re using stock footage, music, or stock photos licensed this way then you should still be able to monetize your video. YouTube monetization and commercial use are different things. However, there is a lot of confusion about this issue, and chances are the rights holder intends for this license to mean ‘no monetization’.

What you definitely could not do with a NonCommercial license is to use the song/other media in an actual commercial for a product, including product placement that a brand is paying you for.

If you license your video this way, people can use it in whatever way they like so long as they credit you and don’t try to make money off of it. Once again, that doesn’t mean they can’t use it in a YouTube video which they monetize because, technically, they’d be making money off of the ad that ran ahead of the video and not the video itself.

The thing to be careful of with this license is that it’s not ‘ShareAlike’. So, if you license your video this way somebody could use your clips as stock footage and then provide them - as part of their project – for free to a third person to use in a project they were making money off of.

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike – CC BY-NC-SA

Music and other media with an ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike’ license can be used in and altered for your videos, so long as you aren’t making money off those videos. You must also use this same license for the video you create using elements licensed this way.

If you license your video this way, people can use it or a portion of it in their project if they credit you. They must also use this same license for their video if they do. This protects you from the situation where a third person who never licensed your original content is making money off of it.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs – CC BY-NC-ND

There aren’t many situations where you would be using media licensed this way in your YouTube videos. You can’t alter it, sync videos to it, or make money from any video that uses it.

You also probably shouldn’t use this license for your videos. ‘NoDerivs’ means there are not many ways people could use your content, except to repost full videos and steal your views.

Edit Video with the Most Excellent Video Editor

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Also read: