How to avoid copyright strikes when using samples and loops in your songs

As you (EML members) learn to use samples and loops to build up your songs, you need to be aware of the copyright strike issues that can arise from using samples and loops. Key points:

1. Samples and loops are useful - they can inspire, create atmosphere, evoke mood
2. Samples and loops from sample packs (Cymatics, Splice, Loopmasters) are royalty free, which legally means that you can legally use them in your own song (Song Y) without any copyright problem
3. However, other people (Artist X) can also use the same samples and loops from the same packs in their own songs
4. If Artist X records, publishes, and registers their song (Song X) with YouTube Content ID database (which most aggregator services like TuneCore, CD Baby, Distrokid, etc. will do) then YouTube will take it that Song X - and the samples inside the song - belong to Artist X.
5. If you then upload your own song (Song Y) onto YouTube, and the YouTube Content ID system recognizes the sample, then YouTube flags your song (Song Y) as infringing the copyright of Song X, i.e. a YouTube copyright strike*
6. Depending on what Artist X has specified to YouTube, a YouTube copyright strike can lead to (1) no impact, or (2) your song being blocked from uploading; you have no control.
7. Even though this has no basis in real copyright law, it is very annoying that you still have to deal with it and convince YouTube that there is no infringement, which is very hard because YouTube uses automated responses to deal with these thousands (millions?) of daily complaints     

(* I have personal experience of this: I recorded an Ableton Live tutorial using free Cymatics sample loops, then when I uploaded to YouTube, the Content ID system flagged my tutorial as infringing the copyright of some song I've never heard of, because the song contains one of the sample loops that I used in my tutorial!)

So how can you avoid this problem yourself?  

The RIGHT Way to Use Royalty Free Samples on Splice - ProduceLikeABoss.com

This video contains very useful and timely advice. In this video, she explains "Any time we use royalty-free samples, especially from websites like Splice, we ALWAYS need to make sure we're using them the RIGHT way so we don't run into trouble down the road! 💪 It's SUPER important to put your own spin and touch on them to fit your beat or song. Chop it up, move it around, change the pitch......get as CREATIVE as you want!"

Getting Sued For Using Loops? (How To Avoid It)

In this video, Sync My Music speaks to a person who is actually facing a lawsuit claiming that his song infringes copyright. He illustrates the problem, how they are gathering evidence to challenge the lawsuit, and how to avoid such issues in future.  

Let's Talk About the Splice Problem

I first started thinking about this after watching this video by Cameron from Venus Theory where he identifies the problem, but not really the solution