How Do I Appeal a Ban to YouTube?

If your YouTube account was terminated, you can appeal the termination. Terminations for violations of the YouTube community guidelines or terms of service can be appealed with the Google appeal form. Terminations for copyright violations require you to file a counter notification and send it by mail, email, or fax.

Adam Goldkamp is the editor / author responsible for this content.
Dec 9, 2022

If you had your YouTube account terminated, you might want to file an appeal. Depending on the circumstances of your case, there are potential grounds on which you could successfully overturn the ban. This article will teach you what you need to know.

Reasons Why Your Account Can Be Terminated

Your account could be terminated for repeated violations of YouTube's terms of service or community guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, posting hate speech and making abusive or harassing videos or comments. YouTube may also terminate your account for a single severe violation, such as posting pornography, spam, or engaging in predatory behavior. YouTube will also shut down channels dedicated to policy violations, including but not limited to impersonation and hate speech. Copyright infringement can also lead to account termination.

You should have received an email about the reason for your account's termination. You may be able to argue that any accusations of specific violations of the terms of service or the community guidelines were mistaken. If your account was terminated for copyright violation, you might be able to argue that you had legal ownership of the material or that you used it as a parody or teaching aid as a part of fair use.

How to Appeal a Termination for Violations of Community Guidelines or Terms of Service

Using YouTube's appeal form, you can appeal your account termination for violation of community guidelines or terms of service.

  1. You can find the appeal form here.
  2. Enter your personal information.
  3. Enter your account information.
  4. Enter your contact information.
  5. Enter the URL of your banned channel.
  6. Explain why you think the termination was made in error in the text field at the bottom. Keep it brief. Refer to specific parts of the community guidelines.
  7. Click on the Submit button.
  8. Wait. YouTube may contact you with requests for further information or to have a chat or call with a YouTube representative.

How to Appeal a Termination for Copyright Violations

You should appeal by filing a counter-notification if your account was violated for copyright violations. However, since you have been banned, you cannot access the usual form you need. Instead, you need to prepare a printed document containing the following information:

  • Your full legal name
  • Your physical address
  • Your email address
  • Your phone number
  • Links to the disputed content, starting with www
  • This legal statement: "I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district in which my address is located, or if my address is outside of the United States, the judicial district in which YouTube is located, and will accept service of process from the claimant."
  • This legal statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled."
  • A statement to the claimant: Something explaining why the content removal was a mistake.
  • Your signature or electronic signature

Once you have finished the document, email it to copyright@youtube.com (in the body of the email), fax it to 650 872 8513 or mail it to:

DMCA Complaints

YouTube (Google LLC)

901 Cherry Ave.

San Bruno, CA 94066

USA

Contacting YouTube

If you have any questions about the progress of your appeal, call a YouTube representative for help, or talk to one on the YouTube help forum.

Further questions?

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Adam has been tirelessly trying to help customers find the best tips and tricks to get through phone trees and writing many guides for prickly customer service problems. He's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inside Edition and Bloomberg.
How Do I Appeal a Ban to YouTube?

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