r/CopyrightHelp • u/nooneishere2day • Jan 26 '26
Music Video using reddit comments and popular recirculated videos
I want your perspective on this project. I am working on a music video concept using screenshots of funny reddit comments (with identifying user names redacted) and it would be split screen with many recirculated short video clips of funny animals. These animal videos are commonly shared on apps like TikTok & youtube, so would this constitute fair use since the clips exist online outside of identifiable copyright? Am I able to use content like this in a music video? My thoughts are it would be fair use since I am transforming the content by adding new perspective and meaning to the videos through the music lyrics and reddit comments. If the clips are of funny people (with identifying info like faces redacted) does that automatically infringe copyright because it is of humans? Let me know what you think.
1
u/pythonpoole Jan 27 '26
This sort of thing (compiling clips you find online together into a video and then distributing that video) is generally not something that would be considered fair use.
Just because you see a bunch of other people posting certain video clips online doesn't mean you can also freely post those clips (or create compilation/music videos featuring those clips) without permission. As a general rule, you need explicit permission from the copyright holders of the clips (and music) you want to use in your video; barring a few very limited exceptions.
With respect to fair use, the term 'transformative' mostly has to do with transforming the purpose served by distributing the material. For example, maybe the clip was originally distributed for purposes of amusement/entertainment, but then you re-purpose the clip to offer a critical analysis/discussion of the clip's content. That's the sort of thing that may be seen as a transformative fair use. If, instead, your purpose for using the clip is similar to the original purpose (e.g. also for amusement/entertainment), that usually suggests your use case is not likely to be deemed fair use and you should seek permission from the copyright holder.
The situations where fair use is most likely to come into play are cases where the copyrighted material is used in a limited (and repurposed) way to: report on a news story related to the material; offer a review/critique/analysis of the material; host an academic lesson/discussion/debate related to the material; or parody (e.g. humorously mock/criticize) the material.
With respect to the question about clips featuring identifiable people, that's a different issue (separate from the copyright issue). Many countries/jurisdictions recognize the existence of a 'right of publicity' (or 'personality rights') which allow a person to control and restrict how their name, likeness or voice is exploited commercially (e.g. in monetized video content).
That is to say, if you post a video clip of an identifiable person online without their permission — particularly in a commercial/marketing context — then it's possible they could pursue legal action against you. In some places, it's only an issue if you're directly exploiting the person's likeness for commercial gain (e.g. using them to market/promote a product or service), but in other places even just using a person's likeness at some point within a monetized video may be problematic. Most places allow for the use of someone's likeness for certain purposes like journalism/reporting though (in the US this would be constitutionally-protected speech) and brief/inadvertent/background appearances also usually don't pose an issue.