# Can I clip someone else's YouTube video and post it?

**Answer:** Not by default — the video is the creator's copyrighted work, and reposting a cut of it can be removed or monetised by them. Safe routes are: your own footage, footage you have permission for, or genuinely transformative use with commentary. Straight reuploads of someone else's clips are the pattern platforms remove. This isn't legal advice.

*Platform rules*

*Also asked as: is it legal to clip other people's videos; can I repost clips from YouTube to TikTok; copyright rules for clipping videos*

Canonical: https://novaclipper.com/answers/can-i-clip-someone-elses-youtube-video

## Detail

The common failure mode is assuming credit equals permission. Tagging the original creator is courteous and does nothing legally — attribution isn't a licence, and content-ID systems don't check the caption.

Transformative use — commentary, criticism, analysis, reaction with substantive input — is a real defence in some jurisdictions, but it's a defence, not a permission slip, and it's judged on the specifics. A clip with your genuine analysis over it sits very differently from the same clip with a caption added.

The route that actually works at scale is asking. Many creators are happy to have their long-form clipped for social if you credit and link, and some run formal clipping programs with explicit terms. A short message costs nothing and converts surprisingly often.

If you're clipping streamers specifically, check their channel rules — a lot of them publish clipping policies, and some prohibit monetised reuploads outright while welcoming credited clips.

None of this is legal advice. If money depends on the answer, ask a lawyer in your jurisdiction.

## FAQ

### What if I credit the original creator?

Credit is good manners and not a licence. Automated copyright systems don't read captions, and the rights holder can still claim or remove the video.

### Is a 30-second clip short enough to be fine?

There's no safe-length rule. Short excerpts are more defensible in a fair-use analysis, but length alone doesn't make copying permitted.

### How do clip channels operate then?

Mostly with permission, under a creator's published clipping policy, or by accepting takedowns as a cost of doing business. The first two are the ones that last.

## Related

- [Clipping streams you own](https://novaclipper.com/for/twitch-highlights)
- [Clip Twitch VODs for TikTok](https://novaclipper.com/blog/clip-twitch-vods-for-tiktok)
- [Nova's terms of use](https://novaclipper.com/terms)

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