Update: YouTube replied with questions specifically targeting the music. I provided them with exact information on used programs and instruments, and that did it for them. Thankfully, the video got approved and now shows up as “Featured Video”.

Now they suggested Masagin for revenue share, and I tried to be as specific as possible this time. Hopefully that fixes it.


Here’s the original blog post, for reference:

(All the conversation with YouTube was in German, so I’m not going to quote the letters here.)

I have gotten myself into a kafkaesque situation with YouTube. It’s so terrible that I decided to let you in on this, in hopes for any useful input from the web.

A week ago, I received an e-mail from YouTube informing me that my video Die Ewigkeit schmerzt had reached enough views to be eligible for revenue sharing. The letter offered me a request for my video to be accepted into the revenue sharing program. So I did.

They requested that I assure them that no third party had any rights to any part of my production whatsoever, and so I sent them a short note saying that all of the content was produced by me.

Today, I get a robot-authored mail from YouTube: the revenue share is denied on the grounds that the copyright information I supplied is insufficient or invalid. They ask me to give them more information, but give me no clue on what the original request lacked.

As a special cherry on top, a paragraph in the mail informed me that, once my video was ultimately rejected, there would also be a high chance for the video to be removed from the site.

To conclude: YouTube seduces me to apply for revenue sharing, then denies the request without helpful reason, and finally threatens to remove the video.