What YouTube’s process asks for
YouTube accepts copyright removal requests from copyright owners and their authorized representatives. A request for a video can be submitted in YouTube Studio or by email, fax or mail; a request for non-video content, such as a channel banner, by email, fax or mail.
A request has to identify the claimed original work, give a direct link to each allegedly infringing item in the URL format YouTube specifies for that type of content, and include contact information, two legal statements in YouTube’s published wording, and the signer’s full legal name. The uploader may respond through YouTube’s counter-notification process, which can lead to the content being reinstated.
Three records to keep before reporting
The original reference
The URL of your original upload, or where the work was first published. Note the publication date the platform shows.
The copy, exactly
The full URL of the re-upload — the watch page itself, not a channel or search link. If several copies exist, record each URL separately.
Ownership evidence
Whatever shows the work is yours: source files, project archives, the account that first published it, or a registration if one exists.
Full re-uploads with a clear original reference are the simplest matters to document. Clips inside commentary, reactions or edits raise copyright-exception questions — under our standard, materially uncertain matters are not filed. This is our approach, not a statement of YouTube policy.