Content ID reference file

YouTube fingerprints the reference and compares every video uploaded against it. A match triggers whatever policy the rights holder set in advance: monetise, block or track. References can be audio, video or both, and whoever supplies one is meant to hold exclusive rights in the territories they claim.

Bad references cause most of the false claims creators run into. A label that submits a whole compilation, or a distributor registering material that contains a public-domain recording or a stock track, will then claim every video using that audio. Disputing works, and the underlying fix is the reference being corrected at source.