Skip to main content

Instagram gets smarter about copyrighted music in live videos

We’ve already heard how Facebook Live usage has soared during the coronavirus crisis, and it appears Instagram Live is experiencing a similar uptick in use.

But Instagram said this week that increased interest in the livestreaming feature has created confusion in its community when it comes to including artists’ music.

At the current time, if someone plays a particular music track for too long in a livestream, associated licensing agreements mean there’s a good chance it’ll suddenly be muted, or even blocked, if it plays beyond a specific time limit. Of course, that’s annoying for the person broadcasting, as well as anyone watching.

In an effort to minimize such interruptions, Instagram has announced changes to the way it alerts a Live user when its systems detect that a broadcast or uploaded video may include music in a way that doesn’t adhere to its licensing agreements.

If you’re broadcasting live, a notification will now be displayed in good time to give you a chance to adjust your stream to avoid a jarring interruption that a sudden loss of sound can cause. Instagram says that moving forward, if a video is muted or blocked, it’ll explain more clearly to the broadcaster the actions that can be taken to avoid any unwelcome disruption.

“Your live video will be removed soon if you continue to broadcast music you don’t have permission to use,” one of the notifications says.

“At its core, Live brings people together in a real-time and unproduced way, which has opened up new creative opportunities for many creators, artists, and other public figures,” Instagram said in a post announcing the update, adding, “With these improvements, we look forward to people, artists, and creators continuing to use music to share and bond with each other across our platforms.”

Another recent update added to the popular photo- and video-sharing app allows Instagram users to more easily choose who can tag them in a post. The feature is part of ongoing work designed to curb bullying on the platform.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to get verified on Instagram (the right way)
twitter verified header

On Instagram, it’s beneficial for the community for certain users to be verified, as this process ensures that a brand or notable person is who they claim to be. If you’ve ever viewed a user’s Instagram to find a small blue check mark next to their name, that user has been verified, and you can better trust that the account is official.

Not anyone can become verified on Instagram, and the process is quite mysterious, but we’ll take you through it.  Here’s how to get verified on Instagram -- or at least try.
About Instagram verification

Read more
Facebook, Instagram can soon actively search for — and block — stolen images
how to use instagram guide 2

Facebook will soon protect images with the same technology the company already uses to automatically police protected music and videos. On Monday, September 21, Facebook launched Rights Manager for Images to limited Pages, a tool that allows photographers to upload their images to a database for Facebook’s bots to search for and remove protected content. The tool works for both Facebook and Instagram and goes beyond existing reporting tools by actively looking for infringements.

Facebook Rights Manager is a system that will flag or remove a user’s video that contains copyrighted music or video content -- now that protection extends to still images as well. When the system finds stolen photos, the post could be blocked, monitored, or given proper attribution, depending on the owner’s settings.

Read more
Elon Musk says we’re about to get a live look at the Neuralink brain-chip device
Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will finally give more details about his brain-machine interface company, Neuralink, on Friday, August 28. 

Musk announced in a tweet early Wednesday that there will be a live webcast of the latest working Neuralink device at 3 p.m. PT on Friday. 

Read more