Like the Loch Ness Monster of the Internet, rumours of these elusive laws continue to circulate. Sorry, Nessy, but it needs to stop.

Copyright law is a mess. Making it worse is the fact that it affects so many people who simply don’t understand what they’ve done wrong. Most don’t see why using a song in a video violates copyright — especially when all they’ve done is play a Beyonce track over footage of their cat on a channel that doesn’t make money.

Alas, that is still a copyright infringement and if you use such a track in a video it may be removed from that platform via a copyright claim — or, in extreme cases, you’ll be sued (depending on how popular your cat video is).

In my travels across the internet I’ve come across various claims about copyright law. Most of them are completely wrong and I wish more than anything people would stop spreading these rumours. So here is the truth, and it can’t get more simple than this:

1. “But I gave credit in the description…”

No. Just, no. Almost everyone understands that saying “This film is owned by Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement intended” doesn’t prevent copyright infringement. However, when it comes to music they always seem shocked to discover that such a statement is as ineffective for music as it is for movies. I like to think of this useless statement as something akin to when someone starts a sentence with “no offence but….”. You can be sure offence will be taken.

2. “It’s just a cover, it won’t violate copyright…”

This is more contestable. As YouTube states, “Recording a cover version of your favourite song does not necessarily give you the rights to upload that recording. You may need permission from the owner of the underlying music in order to upload the recording legally.”

The problem is that there are actually at least 3 separate rights in every piece of music — even your cover version. The circle represents the song, and as you can see, you are only one part. Those other parts need paid too — and this is where the claims come from.

There’s the performing right, which in this case will be owned by you, so you’re fine; but there’s also the author’s/publisher’s right owned by either the songwriter or publishing company and the people who own the sound recording right (usually the record companies).

In the event that your cover version becomes a worldwide hit online, you should expect to hear from the owner’s of the other rights that make up the song.

There is an exception. If your cover is transformative, you should may be safe, but the law is still quite grey here. For it to be transformative it has to be almost completely different from the original. If you’re successful it means you get to have your pie and eat it too.

3. “My channel doesn’t even make money..”

While this may mean that you fly under the radar and don’t get picked up for copyright, it doesn’t mean you aren’t breaking the law. You are, by the way. Just so we’re clear.

4. “It’s fair use…”

Fair use is a legal concept that exists in case copyright laws are too restrictive. In the US, fair use exists so that copyright doesn’t stifle free speech, news reports or education. In the UK it only really covers incidental inclusion. Hopefully, you’ll be able to glean from America’s description that, in most cases the music you used was not under fair use.

5. “But it doesn’t hurt anyone…”

If I hear one more person say “Beyonce’s rich enough, what does it matter if I use this track?” I think I might throw something at them. That pie chart that I showed you above is just an overview of who has rights in a song. The key word there is rights. You have a right to be paid for your work, don’t you? Why would it be any different for those in the music industry?

This is also a worrying belief that trickles down and ends up hurting young and upcoming musicians, who don’t have sold-out stadium tours to make them money. Music costs money to make — so pay money for it, it’s only fair.

Is there anything I can legally do?

To be honest, not really — at least, not without paying for it. A sync license (which you need to have in place to use music in your video) has no standard price, so have fun with that. A mechanical license (which you’ll need for that cover version) doesn’t come royalty-free, meaning that if you make any money, most of it will go to the publisher and the songwriter.

The only way to fully avoid copyright issues and the stress that comes with them is to either use free audio libraries, pay for stock audio or create something yourself.

So please do not believe the rumours. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the Loch Ness Monster isn’t real; copyright law is. Hopefully you can now avoid having your video removed and (arguably more important) avoid being sued.