Questions
Can I use copyrighted content in clips?
Only with permission. Campaign footage comes with it, music usually does not, and fair use is a defense you may not want to test. The practical rules for clippers.
2 min readUpdated September 11, 2026
Short answer
You can use copyrighted footage when the owner has given you permission, which is what a campaign does. You cannot safely use footage or music you took from somewhere else. Fair use might protect commentary in some countries, but a platform strike arrives long before a court decides.
This is a plain guide, not legal advice.
Almost everything you will ever clip is copyrighted. The question is whether you have permission.
Footage from a campaign: yes
When a brand or creator runs a campaign, they give clippers their own footage and ask for clips. That is permission. The brief tells you what you can do with it. As long as you stay inside the brief, you are using copyrighted content the way the owner asked you to.
Footage you found: usually no
Clipping a streamer, a podcast or a show without asking is using someone's work without permission. Some owners do not mind. Others send takedowns, and the apps act on them fast. Strikes stack, and three of them can close the account you use to earn.
If you want to clip a specific creator outside a campaign, message them and ask. Keep the reply.
Music: the one that catches people
Even with permission for the video, a song in the background belongs to someone else. The apps scan audio automatically and a match can mute the clip, remove it, or stop it being shown. Two safe options:
- Use the sound library inside the app you are posting to. Those tracks are licensed for that app.
- Post with the original speech only. Most talking clips do not need music.
A campaign brief may also tell you not to add music, because the brand does not want its clip muted in half the world.
What about fair use
In the United States, fair use can cover short excerpts used for commentary, criticism, news or teaching. A clip that reposts the funniest 30 seconds with no added commentary is a weak fair use claim. Many countries have no fair use rule at all, only narrower exceptions.
The bigger point: fair use is what you argue after a takedown. It does not stop the takedown.
The safe habits
- 1Clip inside campaigns, where permission is already given.
- 2Read the brief for rules about logos, music and commentary.
- 3Use in app sounds or none.
- 4Do not repost another clipper's clip. It is their edit of the brand's footage, and the brand will reject the duplicate anyway.
Campaigns on the board each come with the footage you are allowed to cut.
Keep reading
Post your first clip and get the welcome bonus
No follower minimum. Pick a campaign, post from your own account, and the views turn into a balance you can withdraw.