With the recent passing of Article 13 as part of the EU copyright reform law, many a video creators are asking themselves, “Could Article 13 kill YouTube?”

We’re hardly copyright experts here at vidIQ, but we clearly have a vested interest in how Article 13 will be interpreted and enforced in the coming months and years.

Here’s what we know so far, and where you can learn more about Article 13 and #SaveYourInternet.

Article 13 is part of European copyright legislation created with the intent to protect creators and their online content.

At the basis of Article 13 is the question, “Who has copyright ownership?”

For example, every vidIQ video opens with an intro kindly made for us by an audio and podcast expert by the name of Mike Russel. The problem is, we don’t have official documents saying Mike created the sound effects and that he gave his license to use his voice or that we have permission to use the graphics, which were probably created using Adobe After Effects.

Here’s another example: If you’ve watched 

, you’ve probably noticed the memorabilia in the background — Batman and Ironman action figures, a WWE title belt, Spider-Man, Shredder, a YouTube ‘Subscribe’ pillow and a Nintendo question mark block from Super Mario.

We didn't ask permission from any of the companies who make and license these products to put them in our videos, and in the past we’ve not needed to, but will Article 13 change this?

In order to interpret Article 13 for YouTube video purposes, we have to take 

With Article 13 as currently written, copyright matching tools like Content ID wouldn't help platforms such as YouTube to keep content on the platform. Content ID works if rightsholders use it and provide clarity as to what belongs to them. However, in many cases information on copyright ownership is missing, or there is partial knowledge, meaning that no system could accurately identify full copyright information at the point of upload.

Put simply, a piece of content with partial or unknown ownership is - to YouTube - treated the same as a piece of content that is unlicensed and so would have to be blocked.

In summary, Article 13 is complicated — there's no dispute in that. But is’t also scary.

How will Article 13 impact video creators?

Think about the Logan Paul “Adpocalypse” controversy or the new YouTube monetization requirements. These crises were tiny in comparison to Article 13, which will affect everybody in a monumental way.

Although the video is still being drafted, in the EU block essentially any video creator who creates content within that area will not be allowed to share it outside of the EU.

Not only that, anybody who creates content outside of the EU block will not have their content be viewable by those outside of the EU… You might call this a Video Content Iron Curtain.

To make matters worse, this block would be immediate, as soon as the video goes live. And it would extend to all past content as well — so all those videos you already have up on YouTube will also be blocked.

At this point you may be thinking that YouTube would never allow this, since it would harm their own income revenue streams to such a massive degree that it could put the company out of business.

But the truth is, YouTube may take these type of extreme measures, because they would be held liable for any copyright infringement.

Yes, the video creator may be the one using copyright music or stealing someone else’s video content, but as the distribution platform, YouTube would be held accountable.

Using Content ID to identify problematic content is a nice idea, but we all know that Content ID on YouTube is not perfect, and many of you have probably had your videos dinged incorrectly with copyright music claims and duplication.

Imagine the chaos that would ensue on the platform if YouTube had to analyze every single pixel, every bit of sound on every single second of YouTube video content uploaded in Europe.

If you’re thinking, “Good, this is revenge against YouTube for demonetizing my channel or making it so hard to meet the requirements,” think again.

This isn't just a YouTube thing. This is an internet thing.

Article 13 isn’t a bill against YouTube but rather designed in principle to protect the rights of creative artists to give them more protection of their copyright content. This is definitely a good thing, but it will have unintended consequences.

Article 13 will affect every distribution platform including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat just to name a few.

It will impact all sorts of video creators on the internet whether it be parody content memes or educational content — all of these things will be drastically affected by Article 13 if it’s pushed into law as it’s currently written.

It's impossible to say just what the landscape will be on YouTube in 2019 as Article 13 is not yet law, which is why we’re talking about it right now.

What we do know is that Article 13 directly affects a lot of people and indirectly affects everybody on the planet.

If this is important to you, follow the movement #SaveYourInternet, and get educated on these subjects — specifically, check out 

YouTube’s dedicated webpage on Article 13

World map showing global YouTube server connections with green arrows indicating data flow.

What does Article 13 mean for video creators around the globe? Here’s what we know so far, and where you can learn more about Article 13 and #SaveYourInternet

Could Article 13 KILL YouTube? #SaveYourInternet

1 Studio Beta Individual video impressions and CTR

In the new YouTube Studio Beta click on Analytics then click on top videos.

A list will pull up where you can sort by highest CTR

Click on reach viewers and you will see unique viewers on the right.

This allows you to understand how many views you get per viewer. You can see this metric under build an audience.

This metric shows how your latest has done compared to other content.

With compare metrics you can compare lots of metrics together to get a visual feel for how you are doing.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

Man surprised by YouTube video impressions and click-through rate analytics chart.

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The upload process can be a daunting process. You've got thumbnails, titles, tags, hashtags, cards, endscreens, translations, description and a whole lot more to consider.

Every day we all watch videos and think, well this video is missing this or that, no wonder it isn't doing well. We've come up with a list of 15 video upload tips to follow to help your YouTube video off to a flying start.

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The upload process can be a daunting process in this video we show you how to properly upload videos to YouTube.

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Need ideas on making your next video, here are 30:

Start talking to camera and see what happens

Try to add a cliff hanger at the end or beginning

Double your video length and see what happens

Or shorten your video and see if that changes the pace and tone of the video

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So you're a big fan of Fortnite, PUBG, Clash Royal, WWE 2K 18 or GTA V? And now you want to start a gaming YouTube channel? Awesome! Guess what? So does everyone else! There are millions of channels now about gaming, all competing for those same views and watchtime minutes.

What you want to know is why some channels stand out more than others? A lot of it has to do with channel personality, what the channel can offer that others can't and how enticing the content is. We explore this and a lot more with challenges, subtle gaming references and you'll discover what my favourite game of all time is.

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How do you get your first 100 subscribers? We've got more than 10 tips and suggestions to help you get there. Getting started on YouTube and grinding up to 100 subscribers can feel like the hardest hurdle to overcome. Where do you start with so much to think about? We've come up with some awesome suggestions to help kick-start your channel and think more like a YouTuber and less like someone chucking videos randomly onto the internet!

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Here are 10 ways to reach the largest audience with the most impact:

Promote in the first 24 hours to get velocity or what we like to call View Per Hour

Share a playlist link, not a video link so that people can watch more of your videos

Share on other social media platforms like Linkedin and Facebook groups

Upload videos to Facebook directly using our vidIQ tool

Use your email list to push your YouTube channel

Use Incase you missed it posts on social platforms to remind people to watch

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You've made a great YouTube video, now you need to share it.

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So you can monetize your content. That's a question being asked by many video creators. So here's 10 practical tips you can start using today to help grow your channel!

Be visual and exciting when asking people to subscribe

Use the branding watermark using a red subscribe button

Put the subscribe button in the endscreen

When sharing your channel use the auto subscribe URL

Pin a subscribe link to the top of your comments

Add vaule to other channels to increase your audience

Make sure your channel page is optimized with a great banner, trailer and sections

Man thinking with hand on chin, YouTube subscribe button, and vidIQ logo in corner

How to get 1000 Subscribers on YouTube so you can monetize your content: that's a question being asked by many video creators. So here are 10 practical tips you can start using today to help grow your channel!

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Build a better community, save time responding to comments and use YouTube's secret comment weapon! All of which is part of growing your channel to gain my subscribers and better serve your audience with the message you want to spread.

Here are 10 YouTube Tips to improve engagement:

React to comments by giving a thumbnails up and heart button

Use the pin comment for content you want people to see

Go through the spam tab to make sure real comments were not put in there

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How to Get MORE YouTube Views by Building a Community Around Your Content

We created a quick video to help describe how you can take advantage of the Pokemon Go phenomenon:

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Pokémon Go logo surrounded by related keywords like gym, battle, Pikachu, and gameplay.

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A large part of creating high quality content involves passion and dedication, but when you look a little deeper, there’s a science to engaging audiences too.

Here are 8 tips to help you reach the right audiences on YouTube and keep them coming back.

Match your expertise to the type of content you want to produce. Be consistent too.

Before you start thinking about the audience you want to reach, ask yourself what you’re good at. Are you a total movie buff? Experienced make-up guru? Comedian at heart? Choosing to focus your channel on an area that you’re well-versed in sets you up to succeed. When you speak to your passions, your knowledge and personality shine through. Bonus: you’ll come across as genuine and authentic (we’ll speak more on that later).

Do your research on the audience you wish to reach, and start speaking their language.

Once you’ve figured out the type of content you want to produce, it’s time to consider your audience. When it comes to targeting the right one and getting them to engage with your content, you need to do your research. Find out the names of relevant fan communities, learn their lingo, and incorporate their official names and vocabulary into your speak. From Tumblr to Reddit, communities congregate in specific places and you want to help shape those discussions.

YouTube may be the hub for television, movies, music, and entertainment in general, but it’s still a social media platform at the core. Like any other social media platform, you want to get involved in conversations and, well, socialize. Like and comment on videos that catch your attention, give shout-outs to other influencers and content creators, ask interesting questions, and engage with your subscribers. The YouTube community values authenticity above all, and being genuine in your videos is what keeps viewers involved. Don’t treat your channel simply as a means to self-promote. If you’re going to engage in some self-promotion though, be transparent and have fun with it!

Use the YouTube tools available to help measure and build audience engagement. Try other tools too.

YouTube’s attention score measures the length of time and attention viewers give to your videos. This insight is great for identifying what excites your audience and what you can do to improve. If your score reveals that viewer attention is high during the latter half of the video, but low during the first, then perhaps you should work on your hook. Viewers will generally decide within the first 5 seconds of a video whether they want to continue watching. With that in mind, make sure your opening gives enough context to keep viewers intrigued.

Video annotations are another way to engage your audiences, prompting them to take action. Use clickable annotations to link to other relevant videos or blog posts. You can even encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel here. The key here is do this smartly and sparingly.

With YouTube popularity growing every day, new tools and services are available too. Take for example vidIQ’s Chrome Extension that displays detailed metrics allowing you to look more deeply into keywords, historical data, and more. By leveraging what’s out there, you’re just upping your odds of succeeding.

Get comfortable looking into your channel’s analytics to find out what works. This is important as it can help you replicate success. Tools are helpful, but what’s better is staying on top of all the information in general and setting aside time to do so. vidIQ’s web app is the go-to place to do this as you can monitor your videos, your competitor’s channels, and find key insights to help when producing future content. Setting aside time to capitalize on research will payoff in the long run.

Optimize your videos for search (for YouTube and the web in general).

Optimizing your videos for search will help build traffic, much like how SEO is a critical component of ensuring written content succeeds across the web. Craft your video headlines and descriptions carefully, incorporating any trending topics and keywords that are relevant to it. Avoid the urge to overuse video tags though, and only use those that actually apply to your video. vidIQ Pro’s proprietary Keyword Research Tool makes it super easy to discover powerful tags to help improve your videos’ search ranking.

As search engines crawl text when processing search queries, adding an audio transcript (where you describe, in writing, the contents of your video) can help them index higher in search. Not only does the audio transcript add additional context to your video, it also gives you an opportunity to throw in some more keywords to help people discover your content when searching.

Partner with other content creators and share the YouTube love.

Collaborating with other content creators is an effective way to grow your audience. Whether you’re partnering with YouTubers that focus on similar topics, or just users that interest you, both will act as an introduction to new audiences.

Don’t be afraid to mention other YouTubers your fans should check out! Unsurprisingly, YouTubers know other YouTubers, and earning your way into the ranks of this influential network will help drive your traffic through cross-channel promotion.

Share your videos on other social media platforms and content discovery engines.

Other social channels are great places to share YouTube videos. They provide an opportunity to tag/mention friends, brands, and other content creators too. Not only will this attract more viewers, it’s also a great way to generate and keep a conversation going outside of YouTube. Pick the channel where your desired audience is the most active. Then, make sure the content you’re adding contributes to the conversation. Seeding your content into discovery engines like StumbleUpon can also be a good way to drive additional traffic to your videos.

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Building a loyal YouTube audience doesn’t happen overnight.

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The general wisdom is to produce, produce, produce – which is the YouTube marketing equivalent of the fool’s adage, “Any decision is better than no decision.”

But content, and its consumers, have been around for a long time. And the thread that connects them has always been simpler than strategy, more powerful than promotion, and greater than hype.

At vidIQ, YouTube and YouTube marketing is our business – so we get it. It seems necessary to surrender to the daily scramble to produce, produce, produce on your channel. It’s easy to lose sight of the real goals of video marketing, to get lost in the endless lists of “YouTube Tips and Tricks” and to worship the newly-deified metrics of “Subscribers” and “Total Views.”

Instead, sit back for a moment – just one moment in this hypnotically hectic world of newsfeeds – to consider the wisdom of great creators who have come before you.

It’s more comforting than cat pictures, I promise.

Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: Vinoth Chandar

“Of all our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.” – Walt Disney

Walt Disney - Mass Communication Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: James Vaughan

It’s not enough to communicate, video marketing can make you understood.

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: FrontierOfficial

Commitment to your content and campaigns is integral to success.

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle

Aristotle - Pleasure in Work Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives

Do only what you enjoy, if you want to do it well.

“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.” – John Lennon

John Lennon - Time Wasted Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: Fabiola Medeiros

Don’t waste time on pursuits you don’t enjoy.

“Information is not knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

Einstein - Info Not Knowledge Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: Marius B

“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” – William Shakespeare

Shakespeare - Wise Fool Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: Mykl Roventine

You don’t know everything, and that’s okay.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Helen Keller - Do Much Together Quote Credit: BrainyQuote Original Photo Credit: Melanie Holtsman

It takes a village to succeed in content.

The last 20 years, and the mass adoption of the internet, have created the illusion that human beings can build complete digital worlds, will new markets into existence, and create content for viral consumption, all at once and all by themselves. But, as with all human endeavor, we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Look to the history of marketing – or, heck, just the history of history – and you’ll find an unbroken chain of collaboration, experimentation, and creation.

At vidIQ, we know YouTube and we know you know content.

Maybe we should create something together?

Click here to download our free Chrome extension

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With video marketing moving at the speed of light, it’s easy to get wild-eyed about your workflow.

YouTube Tips & Tricks