YouTubers complain after newswire agency ANI demands licence fee

YouTuber Mohak Mangal has alleged that newswires agency ANI has sent emails demanding a licence fee from YouTubers using clips published by them. Photo: X/@mohakmangal

YouTube channels in India complained over the last week that the newswire agency Asian News International (ANI) was “threatening” to issue copyright complaints against them for using footage published by them without licensing arrangements. ANI and newswire agencies engage in newsgathering, photography and videography alongside journalists from other publications, and syndicate their reporting to others for a fee. 

The agency had made demands for damages and licence fees toward the use of its content from YouTubers who used its footage without paying a licence fee. To drop demands for damages, the newswire agency has reportedly demanded upwards of ₹48 lakh plus GST for an annual licence, a demand that YouTubers such as Mohak Mangal contested. “[T]his action violates creative expression and sets a wrong precedent,” Mr. Mangal said in a letter to Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw. 

YouTube allows copyright holders to seize the proceeds of videos under copyright dispute or allows them to send complaints that lead to “strikes”, three of which within 90 days can result in the shutdown of a YouTube channel, putting pressure on channels to reach negotiated settlements with copyright holders. 

YouTubers such as Mr. Mangal, whose video on his experience receiving such a demand got 4 million views in two days, said that the footage his channel used was very brief, and amounted to “fair use”. Fair use refers to the use of copyrighted materials in a way that does not amount to an actionable infringement in the copyright framework.

India’s fair use or fair dealing framework exempts personal use, criticism or review, reproduction in a court case, and “the reporting of current events and current affairs, including the reporting of a lecture delivered in public”. These exemptions are laid out under Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1952. 

“We work hard to balance the rights of copyright holders with the creative pursuits of the YouTube community,” a YouTube spokesperson said. “It’s not up to YouTube to decide who “owns the rights” to content, which is why we give copyright holders tools to make copyright claims and uploaders tools to dispute claims that are made incorrectly.”

Published - May 26, 2025 08:44 pm IST