How Do People Get Away with Posting Stolen Content on YouTube?

The key to many of these channels is that they often make money quickly after posting content, sometimes within hours or days. By the time YouTube or the original copyright holder identifies the infringement, the channel has already made a profit. If they get hit with a copyright strike later on, they might just delete the video and move on, having already pocketed the earnings.

YouTube's processing and monitoring systems are not foolproof. With around 2.4 million videos uploaded daily, even if they manage to catch 99.5% of stolen content, that's still a staggering number of videos that slip through the cracks. This means that even if you think YouTube has a tight grip on copyright infringement, there are plenty of videos that go unnoticed for a while.

Some channels take advantage of the 'fair use' doctrine, which allows for limited use of copyrighted material without permission. However, many people misinterpret what constitutes fair use, leading to channels that don't transform the content enough to qualify. These channels might stay under the radar until they attract enough attention to get copyright claims.