BeatGamesStudio, the developers of Beat Saber, have announced an agreement to turn off ContentID on Youtube for a few tracks in the game. These few tracks were the only official tracks that had ContentID protection. They made the announcement via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BeatSaber/status/1090920702742536192

Previously, there were tracks that were part of the OST Vol. II update that would be flagged by Youtube’s ContentID system, which automatically parses and analyzes video to check for copyrighted material, including music. Even if a small part of the video, if ContentID flags it, it can be subject to removal or demonetization. Repeated strikes against a channel can be grounds for a ban.

BeatGamesStudio said via Twitter that “This is an awesome step towards our community made by them. Please give it up for our amazing artists who decided to do this for you – our streamers & content creators – and support your creative work.”

This was something that BeatGamesStudio could not do unilaterally since the rights outside of being included in the game would still lie with the individual song artist. When initially asked about the possibility, BeatGamesStudio said “We have Content ID turned off for our original music, although, we're unable to have it turned off for tracks created by other artists. This can feel a bit limiting for streamers & content creators, but we have to respect artists' decision and their right to monetize their music.”

With this, every current official track is free from concern with Youtube’s ContentID. However, it does not automatically apply to any future song releases, nor to custom charts that utilize other songs, or the famous chart that is simply the audio track to the film Shrek.

Quick Take

It’s really great to see the company doing this. Beat Saber is one of the best experiences you can have in VR right now, and this will give more freedom to people that already enjoy the game to share it.