At Fullscreen, we do our best to keep our creators up to date on the latest from YouTube. And YouTube is making some changes that we want to let you know about.

Sometime before the end of October, YouTube will be turning on a policy called “monetization suspension” that will affect all channels—both independent channels and MCN-partnered channels (whether those channels are with Fullscreen or another network).

Monetization suspension has been in effect for independent creators for a long time. YouTube now wants the rules to be the same across all its partners, which is why they’re making this change to include MCN-affiliated creators as well.

You’ll soon get a notification on your YouTube Dashboard about this, but we wanted to give you an early heads up on the news and what it means for you. This post is long and gets a little technical, but the details are important. So buckle up!

What is monetization suspension, and what causes it?

If your YouTube channel is in good standing—with zero strikes—you have nothing to panic about. (But you should still read on.) If your channel is not in good standing (due to what we outline below), YouTube will soon implement a policy that’ll flag your channel for review for monetization suspension—unless you resolve the issues on your channel.

If your channel is in bad standing due to excessive strikes (Terms of Service strikes, Terms of Use strikes, copyright strikes, community guidelines strikes, or third-party global blocks), YouTube will notify you that it’ll suspend monetization on your channel in 40 days. So if you get that notification from YouTube, that means you have 40 days from that point to you must resolve all the issues if you want to keep earning ad revenue on your channel.

UPDATE YouTube will no longer provide a 40-day warning.

If you successfully resolve all the issues with YouTube, you won’t see any problems, and your channel will keep operating as normal. But if you aren’t able to resolve the issues with YouTube, YouTube will suspend monetization on your channel for six months.

What can I do if one of my videos gets a strike against it?

This is important! Do not delete any videos that have any of the following issues:

Copyright strike

Terms of Service strike

Terms of Use strike

Community Guidelines strike

Third-party global block claim

Deleting videos with these issues can make it impossible to resolve the issues on your channel and therefore impossible to restore your channel to good standing.

Note that YouTube is changing the way it treats third-party global block claims. In the past, you could resolve third-party global block claims simply by deleting the offending video—but under YouTube’s new policy, this will no longer be the case.

What if the strike against my channel is invalid?

If you feel that the strike is in error, immediately dispute it through the YouTube Video Manager or YouTube Dashboard.

Your dispute will enter YouTube’s dispute resolution system, and you’ll hear back either that the issue was resolved or that your dispute cannot be processed.

Once you receive a notification from YouTube that your dispute was received, please forward that notification to your Fullscreen partner manager or to Fullscreen support for further help (and please include the link to your video as well).

What if the strike against my channel is valid?

If the strike against your channel is legitimate, do not file a dispute through YouTube until you’ve obtained a license for use of the content in question.

If you have any questions about a copyright strike you may have received, reach out to your Fullscreen partner manager or Fullscreen support, and we’ll do our best to help. However, we suggest that you consult legal counsel for help in assessing what to do.

If you weren’t able to file a dispute because you accidentally used third-party content, please send the link of the video and a brief description of the issue you’re having to your Fullscreen partner manager or to Fullscreen support.

General guidelines to help you avoid problems

In some cases, Fullscreen may not be able to resolve the issue you’re having. To avoid encountering issues with your channel in the first place, we strongly advise that you only upload content that you or Fullscreen have licensed for commercial use.

If you’re shooting your videos in public places, it’s also critical to obtain release forms from people who appear in your videos. Your Fullscreen partner manager can help you with a release form template.

Taking the above steps will minimize your odds of getting strikes or claims on your channel and put both you and Fullscreen in a solid position to resolve any issues that do arise.

What can I do if my monetization gets suspended?

If you’re unable to resolve all the strikes within the 40-day window , YouTube will suspend monetization on your channel for six months three months, and there’s no way to dispute that decision. Over the six months that your monetization is disabled, you’ll need to resolve all your outstanding issues.

After six months three months, YouTube will review your channel again—and if YouTube finds that you have resolved all of your strikes, they’ll turn your monetization back on. If you haven’t resolved all your outstanding issues by that time, you’ll have to wait another six months to be reviewed again.

UPDATE: YouTube has lowered the suspension time from six months to three months.

When is YouTube turning this on?

YouTube hasn’t given us an exact date, but we expect them to enable monetization suspension no later than October 31, 2014. So if you do have any outstanding strikes or claims on your channel, you should immediately begin trying to resolve them.

What is Fullscreen doing to help?

Fullscreen is fully here to support you! We’ll do everything we can to help you resolve any issues with your channel, both now and in the future. If you have any questions or concerns about the monetization suspension process please feel free to reach out to your Fullscreen partner manager or to Fullscreen support. Thank you!