How to manage YouTube Claims and Disputes

Summary

When CD Baby's Content ID system places a claim on a video, the video uploader can respond through YouTube. This article explains what a claim means, how to dispute one, and what to do if you want a claim released from a video on your own channel.

Understanding the claim on your video

If you use your own music in a video on your channel and have opted into YouTube monetization, you may see a CD Baby Content ID claim on that video. This is expected — Content ID scans all videos on YouTube, including your own uploads. The claim is not a copyright strike and does not negatively affect your channel. It means CD Baby is collecting ad revenue from that video on your behalf.

If you do not want the claim on that video, you can dispute it directly through YouTube Studio.

How to dispute a claim

Disputes are initiated by the video uploader through YouTube, not through CD Baby. To dispute a claim on your video:

1. Open YouTube Studio and navigate to your video.
2. Find the claim in the Content section.
3. Select the option to dispute the claim.
4. In the dispute message, include the following statement:

"My name is [Your Name], I am a CD Baby artist [YourUsername] and I wish to handle my own monetization on this video."

Including your CD Baby username in this exact format is important — without it, the dispute may not be processed correctly and the claim may be reinstated.

CD Baby's team reviews disputes within 30 days of submission.

Important: a released claim cannot be reinstated

If a claim is released — whether through a dispute or at your request — YouTube permanently marks that video as "Not Claimable." This is enforced by YouTube's Content ID system and cannot be overridden by CD Baby. Once a video is in this state:

• CD Baby cannot place a new claim on that video.
• The only way to monetize the content from that video again is for the creator to upload a new video.

Releasing a claim is a permanent action. Before requesting a release, make sure this is what you want.

Third-party release requests

If someone else (for example, a person you have licensed your music to) wants a claim released from their video, they should dispute the claim through YouTube using the process above. CD Baby may require documentation confirming they have a valid license to use the content before processing a release.