YouTube Getting Tough With Fan Impersonation Channels
It’s great to have fans of your work and you should be honored if you do. But fans sometimes go too far by starting a channel that looks and feels so close to the artist’s original channel that hardly anyone can tell the difference. YouTube has finally recognized this as a problem and is cracking down on fan impersonation channels.
The New Rules
First of all, if you operate a fan channel, you now have to state that’s what it is in an obvious way. According to YouTube, “If you operate a fan channel, make sure you state so explicitly in your channel name or handle. It should be obvious to your viewers that your channel doesn’t represent the original creator, artist or entity your channel is celebrating.”
Sometimes fans take it a step further though, by reposting an artist’s content and presenting it as their own. YouTube states, “For example, channels claiming to be a ‘fan account’, but actually posing as another’s channel and reuploading their content would not be allowed. Another example would be channels with the same name and avatar or banner as another channel, with the only difference being a space inserted into the name or a zero replacing the letter O, would not be allowed.”
You’re Terminated
Thankfully YouTube is showing it’s taking this problem seriously by now imposing immediate account termination for anyone found in violation of these terms. Previously, a violator was subject to the 3 strikes rule, meaning that you had to violate the terms 3 times before termination.
I’ve had this happen to me and I can tell you that for a time it caused some havoc in my life. YouTube eventually took down the violating channel, so there was a happy ending, but not before I spent many wasted hours chasing through its system to find the correct avenue to follow. Hopefully things are more streamlined today.
The new fan impersonation policy will go into effect on August 21st, 2023.
