It happens more often than you'd think. A Haryanvi singer puts out a new song, uploads the official video to their own YouTube channel a day later, and by evening YouTube Studio shows a copyright claim. On their own song. The ads money now goes somewhere else, and the first thought is that someone has stolen the track.
Usually nobody has. Most of the time the claim comes from the system that is supposed to protect the artist: Content ID, switched on for the song through the distributor. Content ID can't tell the difference between a stranger re-uploading your song and you uploading it. It just hears a match. This guide explains how to check who claimed your video, how to get your channel allowlisted so it stops happening, and when a dispute is the right move.
First, a claim is not a strike
A Content ID claim and a copyright strike are different things. A claim is automatic. YouTube's How Content ID works page says a matched video can be blocked, monetised by the claimant, or just tracked, depending on the owner's settings, and that this can differ country to country. A claim on its own does not count against your channel.
A strike is a legal takedown request, and that one does count. So don't panic and don't delete the video. Deleting it throws away the views and doesn't fix anything for the next upload.
Step 1: Find out who claimed it
Open YouTube Studio on the channel with the claim. YouTube's dispute help page lays out the path:
1. Go to Content in the left menu. 2. Use the filter bar and pick Claims to see only claimed videos. 3. In the Restrictions column, hover over Claims and click See details. 4. Under Content used, you'll see the song name and the claimant.
Write down the claimant name exactly as it appears. It might be your distributor, a partner company your distributor works with, a label you signed with years ago, or a beat producer. What you do next depends entirely on this name.
Step 2: If it's your distributor, ask for a release and an allowlist
This is the common case. Your distributor has your song in Content ID so that re-uploads, lyric videos and Reels-to-YouTube copies get monetised for you. Your own channel got caught in the same net.
Ask them for two things, and say both clearly:
- Release the existing claim on that specific video. Send the video link.
- Allowlist your channel so future uploads aren't claimed.
Both matter. YouTube's page on exempting channels from Content ID says that once a channel is added to the allowlist, new videos from it won't be claimed, but claims made before that are not released automatically. So an allowlist alone won't clear today's claim.
When you write to them, include your channel ID, not just the name. It's the 24-character code starting with "UC" that you see in a link like youtube.com/channel/UC... If your channel uses a handle like @yourname, send that link too. Channel names are not unique. Search "Khesari fan club" or any popular Bhojpuri name on YouTube and you'll find dozens of near-identical channels, so a name alone can get the wrong channel allowlisted.
One small comfort while you wait: if the claimant is your own distributor and the video is monetised, that money normally comes back to you through your distributor's royalty report. It's slower and goes through a different route, but it isn't lost.
Step 3: Check every rights holder, not just one
A song can have more than one owner in Content ID. The recording might sit with your distributor while the lyrics and composition are with a publisher. YouTube's allowlist page is direct about this: if more than one partner owns an asset, each partner has to add your channel to their own allowlist.
Picture a Rajasthani folk duo whose distributor has allowlisted their channel, yet a claim still shows up. If their lyricist separately signed with a publisher, that publisher can claim the composition. One more email to the second claimant fixes it, but only once you know there are two.
So if a claim reappears after the allowlist, go back to "See details" and read the claimant name again. It's often a different company.
Step 4: If it's a beat seller or someone with no right to claim
This one needs more care. A lot of Punjabi and Haryanvi singers buy beats online on a lease. YouTube's Content ID eligibility rules say claimants must have exclusive rights, and they list "content licensed non-exclusively from a third party" and production loops as ineligible for Content ID. A producer who sells the same beat to fifty singers shouldn't be claiming any of them.
Before disputing, read your beat licence. If it says non-exclusive and allows YouTube use, send the licence to the producer and ask for a release. If they don't answer, dispute.
If the claim is from a sample you didn't clear, or a cover of a song you didn't license, the claim is probably valid. Disputing that can end in a takedown and a strike. Our guide on clearing a cover song in India covers that situation.
Step 5: How to dispute, and why the first 5 days matter
From the same "See details" screen, click Take action, then Dispute. YouTube's dispute page says the claimant then has 30 days to respond. They can release the claim, reinstate it, file a takedown request, or let it expire. If they don't respond in 30 days, the claim is released.
Timing affects money. According to YouTube's page on monetisation during Content ID disputes, if you dispute within 5 days of the claim, the video's revenue is held from the first day of the claim and paid to whoever wins. Dispute after 5 days and the hold only starts from the dispute date. Do nothing, and after 5 days the held revenue goes to the claimant.
YouTube also lists things that are not valid reasons to dispute: giving credit to the owner, owning a copy of the song, or not monetising the video. "I wrote this song and I own the recording" is a valid reason. "I mentioned the singer's name in the description" is not.
Keep the dispute text short and factual. Something like: "I am the artist and owner of this recording. It is distributed through [distributor name] under my account [username]. This is my official channel."
Do this before your next release
Most of this can be avoided. When you upload a new song to your distributor, send them the links of every channel that will post it officially: your artist channel, your label channel, maybe a bhajan channel your team runs. If you have a YouTube Official Artist Channel, mention that too. Our earlier guide on the Official Artist Channel explains who qualifies.
If you give a dancer, a reel creator or a devotional page permission to use your song, tell your distributor that as well. Otherwise Content ID will claim them too, and that can sour a promotion deal fast.
How we handle this at RMX
Claims on an artist's own channel are a problem we'd rather prevent than fix, so share your channel links with us early. RMX Music delivers to 95+ platforms, including YouTube Music, offers Content ID protection from the dashboard, and passes on 95% of royalties. Over 3,000 artists and 2,200+ labels have put out 20,000+ tracks with us, many of them Haryanvi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Rajasthani and devotional releases where the same song gets uploaded by hundreds of channels. A Label account is a one-time ₹4,500 for life, and an Agent account is ₹15,000 for life if you manage several labels.
If your songs keep getting claimed on your own channel, or you're planning a release and want it set up properly from day one, create your RMX account and send us your channel link with your first upload.