Say you wanted to walk down a memory lane with a friend who has always been there for you. It’s them that you have been thankful for all this time, for the good and the bad. You begin thinking about showing them how thankful you are. Of course, you want them to feel special. You begin to think that nothing is more better than making and giving them a special video. You are absolute that you will share this on your social media so that it comes as a surprise to them. Because its really not just them who you wish to reveal this to, it’s your entire cyber world. To appreciate them in front of your whole world, you begin to shoot video content. Starting from some pictorial collage to home videos of you and them having the best moments and on to the special message you wish to reveal. So, you pick a weekend and begin the editing process. You make sure the collages are vibrant and well organized. With that you also have to make sure that the throwback videos are clear. Altogether you have to make sure that your sound quality is the perfect pitch and clarity. However, with this you also wish to make the video more creative, less boring and more appealing to them. Then you decide to add some music content to it; perhaps your favorite song that you both sang together some day? About six hours later, your social media shout out is ready. You replay it to find out any missing parts. Now that its done, its now time to upload it. You log in to your Instagram account and begin to upload the content instantly. Your content is uploaded, however, soon you receive an email informing you that your content has been removed due to the violation of copyrights policy. Well, there goes your hard work. But, do not give up yet. Because, there just might be one too many ways to upload content on Instagram. All you need to know is how to avoid copyrights on Instagram. Are you ready then?
Instagram is one of the mainstream social media application that was developed and established back in 2010. While in the beginning of its establishment, Instagram gained fame, however the team itself only included 12 employees. By 2012, Facebook Inc. came to the rescue. That was the beginning of a remarkable period for Instagram then. Instagram has now become a worldwide famous application with more and more users joining this social media platform everyday. Instagram offers its users to experience something different; Unlike many social media applications which focus on helping individuals communicate with instant messaging, Instagram allows its users to be creative instead. Users upload media content from the devices to share their aesthetic skills with their followers and study or admire the skills of people they are following. While previously it was easier for just about everyone to share any sort of media content (Of course, we do not mean adult content!) without any copyrights issue. Nevertheless, recently the policies have shifted and for many Instagram users now it has become a challenge to upload media content without making sure it does not violate the copyrights of the owner.
Many Instagram users, unlike most others, do not wish to steal content from original producers. Sometimes, Instagram users just mean to admire the content from the Instagram account they follow. Say, you wanted to share a picture of a street fashion photographer to admire the fashion sense of the model in the media content. In order to do that, you simply uploaded the picture on Instagram only to face the dreaded removal by the updated version of Instagram’s algorithm. On the other hand, Instagram just means to turn itself into a safe space. In recent years, Instagram has been accounted for numerous copyrights and stolen content cases. Many photographers, actors, musicians and so on were absolutely against someone else taking credit for their work and sharing content without getting the permission to do so. In that case then, Instagram now came up with a changed bot system. Because while you may mean to only share the content for admiration purposes or to make your videos on Instagram more engaging, or simply share it without being aware of copyrights, there are other members on Instagram who simply wish to take credit and claim someone else’s talent. In this contrast then, it become hard to define which human intention has played its role behind the copyrighted content being shared.
If you are someone who wishes to be a free bird and share copyrighted work on Instagram, of course not for the purpose of crossing a line, you must be frustrated. In other to counter this recent change on Instagram then, we have come up with some ways that you can use to avoid copyrights on Instagram and still be able to upload any content you wish to share. The following then is a list that helps you avoid copyrights on Instagram for various media file formats.
If the content you wish to share includes the addition of a copyrighted audio file then the following ways should help you reach your goal; some of these ways can also be applied to copyrighted pictures on Instagram:
A. Avoid Copyrights on Instagram By Giving Credits!
If your favorite YouTube star posted something on Instagram and you wish to share it on your profile, you should be allowed to. After all you’re only being a super-fan! However, when you re-post something from another Instagram account, whether it contains a video or a picture, you will get into the trouble of copyrights because you shared a content that was not your original. In that case then, you should opt for giving a shout out or credit to the individual who originally produced that content. This will show your users who the actual owner is and you are an admirer. With that, this will also appear respectful for the actual artist. In many cases, you can also request the owner of the content about allowing you to re-post their content. In that case then, you should only be sharing the content if you receive appropriate permission. When Instagram’s own account does not forget to give credit to re-posts, why should you?
B. Avoid Copyrights on Instagram By Appealing!
Often times, the content you share will still receive become a victim of Instagram’s copyrights policy. When that happens, Instagram will notify you to appeal for posting the content anyway. You have the option to do this only when you do have the permission of the actual artist and producer of the content. Otherwise, your appeal will not stand any ground. In order to do this then, you will simply click on the appeal button once you get a notification of content removal by Instagram. Once you do that, you will be asked to provide electronic signatures. Moving on, you will be required to select the reason for appeal and whether you have the permission to post the content. When this information is cross-verified, your content will then be uploaded. This option is applicable for both; pictures and videos!
C. Avoid Copyrights on Instagram by Making Changes:
Well, sometimes it just helps when you do not include something in your submission as it is. Remember how you are suppose to avoid plagiarism in order to fool the plagiarism checker in your assignments? That is exactly how this works. Make sure you only include a gist of the audio content and use content editing software in your phone. If you are an Android user you can opt for VideoShow or Magisto. Other than that, if you are a Magisto can also be used by iPhone owners. However, there is a certain risk that comes with this technique. If the audio or picture owner finds out and reports your content for breaching the copyrights policy, your content will be removed. In that case then, be careful!
D. Avoid Copyrights on Instagram by Using Free Music and Pictures!
You do not always have to use copyrighted music. We know that everyone would love some Taylor Swift, some Marriah Carey or some Selena Gomez audio in their videos. Still, that cannot be done if you do not have the legal permission or a receipt of copyrights purchase on you. There are various audio files out there that do not have any copyrights and can be used by basically everyone. Search for those audio files, make sure the content does not have a copyrights agreement and then include it in your Instagram posts. On the other hand, avoid pictures with copyrights on them. You will usually see a watermark on picture content. Simply do not share those pictures and opt for neutral ones in order to avoid the copyrights fuss altogether!
We are hopeful that your Instagram game will remain the same and your followers will appreciate the content you share. You just have to be a little mindful of your fellow creative people and applaud their work instead of putting them under your label. Then, you should also have the option of getting your intentions accounted for! These above mentioned techniques will help you achieve your acceptable goals!
Saira 
Michelle