Is it legal to clip YouTube videos for TikTok?

The copyright rules are the same as for YouTube. TikTok does not allow content that infringes copyright, and repeat infringers can be banned, so you still need permission, a licence or an exception.

Does crediting the YouTuber make a clip legal?

No. YouTube says credit does not by itself turn a non-transformative copy into fair use, and that disclaimers like no infringement intended have no automatic effect. Credit matters only under a Creative Commons Attribution licence.

What does Creative Commons Attribution require on YouTube?

You must credit the title, author, source URL and licence information. YouTube also says you can monetize Creative Commons content only if the licence grants commercial rights.

Does YouTube decide who owns a video in a copyright dispute?

No. YouTube says it cannot get involved in ownership disputes. It removes content on a valid request and forwards counter notifications, and the two parties settle the rest, including in court.

Does fair use work the same way outside the United States?

No. Fair use is US law. YouTube says exceptions differ by country, and the EU limits them to specific categories such as quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche.

Guide

Is it legal to clip YouTube videos?

By Rakshit · Updated October 11, 2026

Clipping a YouTube video you do not own needs the owner's permission, a licence such as Creative Commons Attribution, or a copyright exception a court would accept. YouTube says crediting the creator does not by itself turn a copy into fair use, and that even a few seconds can lead to copyright issues. This is general information, not legal advice.

Can you clip someone else's YouTube video? It depends on the video

The answer is not the same for every video. Find your situation in this table, then read the section that matches.

Situations and where each one stands
Situation	Where it stands
Your own video	Yours to clip, except for music or footage from other people that sits inside it.
Another creator's video, and the creator agreed	You have permission, which the Copyright Office also calls a licence. Keep the reply, and note the scope.
Marked Creative Commons Attribution	Allowed on its terms. You credit the title, author, source URL and licence, and use it commercially only if the licence grants that.
Another creator's video, no word from the owner	You have no permission. Only an exception such as fair use could apply, and only a court decides.
Remixed with YouTube's own Shorts tools	YouTube says some of its features, such as creating Shorts with remixed content, come with a corresponding licence. That covers content made inside those tools.

Copyright attaches to the video, not to the app you post on, and the U.S. Copyright Office says protection exists automatically once an original work is fixed. Each platform then adds its own enforcement rules, covered below.

Why crediting the YouTuber does not make it legal

This is the most common wrong assumption, and YouTube's own pages address it directly.

YouTube says giving credit to the owner won't by itself turn a non-transformative copy of their material into fair use.
Phrases such as "no infringement intended", "for entertainment only" and "I do not own this" have no automatic effect. YouTube says there are no magic words that apply fair use.
Buying a DVD or song, or recording something from TV, does not give you the right to upload it.
The fact that other channels post similar content does not mean you have the rights to use it.
When disputing a claim, giving credit to the owner is listed as not a valid reason.

Editing does not fix this either. The Copyright Office says you cannot claim copyright to another person's work, however much you change it, without the owner's consent, and that only the owner may prepare or authorise a new version. YouTube says that if your creation does not add new expression, meaning or message to the original, it probably isn't fair use.

Posting the clip: Shorts, TikTok and other countries

YouTube Shorts. A Content ID claim on a Short longer than one minute blocks it while the claim is active, regardless of the owner's policy. Shorts made outside YouTube's creation tools can also get a claim or be removed after a valid removal request. YouTube's Shorts remix tools, such as Green Screen, Cut and Sound for music videos, come with a corresponding licence according to YouTube's copyright myths page.
TikTok. Its copyright policy says it does not allow content that infringes copyright, and it acknowledges that some unauthorised uses fall under exceptions such as fair use or fair dealing. It may ban accounts that repeatedly infringe. For users outside the EU, TikTok also warns that an appeal may be forwarded to the original reporter with your contact information, and that the reporter may use it to file a lawsuit. See YouTube to TikTok.
Outside the US. YouTube says exceptions differ by country. In the EU a use must fit specific categories, such as quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody and pastiche, and some countries use fair dealing. YouTube considers local rules when it reviews removal requests.

Monetization is a separate gate. A channel can break YouTube's reused content policy without receiving a single claim, so even with the owner's permission, a channel of clips that add nothing can lose monetization. The detail is in how to reuse YouTube videos without copyright.

How to get permission to clip a video that is not yours

Find a contact for the owner. YouTube says it cannot grant you rights to someone else's content or help you find the parties who can, so this part is on you.
Name the exact video and the timestamps you want.
Explain the use: vertical clips, which platforms, whether you will earn from them.
Ask for a written reply, and check what it covers: one clip, one campaign, or everything.
Check the video itself for third-party music or footage. The owner of the video may not own those parts.
Save the reply with the date next to the clip file.

Some creators go further and invite clippers. In a clipping programme, such as the ones Whop describes, the content owner supplies source footage and sets rules for the clips. That is an invitation to clip, and the programme's rules say what you may do with the result. Read them before you post anywhere else. See how clipping campaigns work.

Why KeyMo asks you to confirm before importing

When you paste a YouTube link into KeyMo (on a paid plan, fetched up to 1080p), you confirm that you own the video or have permission. The tool cuts, scores and captions a video. It cannot tell whose video it is, and it cannot give you the right to use it. That has to come from the owner. Once you have it, KeyMo returns up to 15 vertical 9:16 clips, each scored out of 10 with a one-line reason, with a chat editor for changes and no watermark. Start with your own channel's long videos, or a creator who said yes, at YouTube to Shorts.