VIRAL CONTENT & ORIGINALITY

6 primary sources

How to Borrow From Viral Videos Without Copying Them

You can learn from a viral video’s general idea, such as comparing two options or revealing a result, and create your own work around it. Reusing its footage, audio, or distinctive script is a separate rights question. Start by naming the idea in plain words, then write a new script and film your own evidence. If you want to include the original material, check permission, licence terms, or an applicable copyright exception before posting.

Written and researched by Kabo Editorial TeamReviewed by Emma HsiaPublished October 19, 202610 min read

01 · THE REFERENCE

What are you actually borrowing?

You save a Reel because the opening makes a familiar problem feel new. By the time you open your camera, though, you can only hear the other creator’s lines. That is a useful moment to pause. What caught your attention: the question being answered, or the specific way that person answered it?

In the United States, copyright protects original expression fixed in a work, rather than ideas or methods. A general idea like comparing two ways to organize a desk is different from the particular video made to express it. Its filmed scenes and creative writing can be protected.

U.S. Copyright Office: what copyright protects

Separate the idea you learned from the material you plan to use
Part of the reference	Example	Your next decision
A general creative idea	Compare two choices, show a before-and-after, or explain a mistake.	Use the idea to answer your own audience’s question.
The creator’s expression	Their distinctive script, illustrations, joke, or detailed creative sequence.	Develop your own expression. Reshooting a copied script keeps the copying problem.
The actual media	Their video frames, photographs, voice recording, or music.	Use your own assets or establish a right to use each borrowed asset.

Calling something a “format” does not settle whether you have copied creative expression. A shot-for-shot remake can preserve someone’s detailed creative choices even when you film new footage. Treat the table as a planning aid, then check what your finished version actually carries over.

02 · MAKE IT YOURS

Turn a reference into your own filming plan

Start with a description that could apply to several different videos: “a comparison that reveals a trade-off” or “a problem followed by a demonstration.” If the description needs the creator’s exact joke or scene to make sense, you have probably kept too much of the execution.

Watch for what is shown as well as what is said. A question can be answered by a demonstration, a confession, or a result on screen. You can choose a different way to make that answer convincing. Our guide to patterns to study in viral videos can help you describe those creative jobs without treating them as a formula for reach.

An AI suggestion is still something to verify. If it describes a scene you cannot find, leave that observation out. The guide to checking what an AI video review actually received explains how to spot a critique based on incomplete material.

Then put the reference away while drafting. Write for the person who watches your account, with a question you can answer and evidence you can film. This makes it easier to notice when your own idea is doing the work instead of a remembered sentence.

03 · CONSTRUCTED EXAMPLE

A complete remake with its own point of view

Imagine the reference shows a cluttered desk becoming a neatly arranged workspace. Its appeal is a visible before-and-after. You could repeat that same arrangement and narration, but then your desk would mostly be a substitute for theirs.

A different video asks whether a desk that looks tidy is easy to work at. The before-and-after idea remains, while the question changes. You film the task you struggle with, make your own choices, and show whether they help.

CONSTRUCTED EXAMPLEA desk that works for the task

Constructed example: a desk-organizing video

0:00  Film your desk while trying to open your notebook.
“My desk looked tidy until I needed to use it.”

0:05  Show the objects you keep reaching around.
“I kept moving things out of the way, so I tried arranging
this desk around the work I actually do.”

0:12  Move the notebook and tools you use to reachable places.
Show the choices and explain your own reasons.

0:22  Repeat the opening task with the new arrangement.
Show what became easier and what still feels awkward.

Ending  Invite viewers to name the task their desk gets in the way of.

The change is more than a new person in the frame. This version has its own reason to exist and its own answer. The timings are an illustrative filming plan, not a required video length. In a real shoot, show the result you get, including anything that still needs work.

Borrowing the before-and-after idea does not require copying the reference’s camera moves, music, or reveal. Choose an edit that makes your particular task easy to follow. The example teaches an editorial approach; it is not a legal clearance or a promise that the new video will perform well.

04 · YOUR FILMING PLAN

Use the worksheet before you film

Fill this in for one reference and one new video. The asset lines are where a promising idea becomes a practical plan: you should know what you will shoot and which material still needs a rights check. You can select the full worksheet and paste it into your notes.

REFERENCE TO FILMING PLANA worksheet for your next video

REFERENCE
Original URL and creator:
What happens at the opening, middle, and payoff?

IDEA TO LEARN FROM
Describe the general creative idea without quoting the creator:

MY VIDEO
Who is this for, and what question will I answer?
My own opening line:
My point of view or finding:
What I can actually show to support it:

ASSETS
Footage I will shoot:
My own or licensed audio:
Any borrowed material I still plan to include:
For each borrowed asset: owner, permission/licence or exception,
allowed purpose and platforms, editing terms, expiry, saved evidence:

BEFORE FILMING
What still depends on the original script or distinctive execution?
What will I rewrite or remove?
Any unresolved rights question that needs permission or legal advice?

If you cannot explain your new video without reciting the reference, return to the audience question. Adding your logo will not answer it. A useful draft should make sense to someone who has never watched the video that inspired you.

05 · MATERIAL YOU KEEP

When you want to use the original clip

Sometimes the original material is the subject: you want to critique a claim, respond to a scene, or explain what a creator demonstrated. That is a different decision from learning an idea and filming your own version. Before editing, identify who owns the material and the basis on which you can use it.

Permission from the rights holder can cover a specific use. Make the request concrete: name the clip, where you will post it, whether it will be used in an ad, and the edits you want to make. Save the agreed scope and any expiry date. A creator’s permission for their footage may leave the music inside it unresolved.

U.S. Copyright Office: permission, excerpts, and adaptations

A licence is another route, provided its terms cover your use. Check commercial-use and adaptation restrictions, attribution requirements, and the platforms covered. “Royalty-free” is a licensing description, not permission to do anything with an asset. For public-domain material, verify the status of the particular work you plan to use.

U.S. Copyright Office: what copyright protects
YouTube Help: fair use, credit, and copyright claims

If you use a platform’s built-in remix or sharing feature, check the feature’s current terms and available permissions. Being able to tap a button is not a licence for every later use, such as exporting the result into a brand’s advertisement.

06 · THE COMMON SHORTCUTS

Why credit and small edits do not settle fair use

Credit tells viewers where material came from. It does not give you the owner’s permission. YouTube also explains that a disclaimer or adding some of your own material does not automatically make a use fair.

YouTube Help: fair use, credit, and copyright claims

Fair use in the United States considers the purpose and character of your use, the nature of the original work, how much you use and how important that part is, and the effect on the work’s potential market. Commentary or criticism may support a fair use argument, but the facts of the particular use matter. The four factors are not a checklist that issues permission.

U.S. Copyright Office: the four fair use factors

There is no fixed number of seconds or percentage that makes reuse safe. A short excerpt can still take the most important part of a work. Cropping, speeding up a clip, translating its script, or changing the person on screen is not a substitute for establishing your right to use the expression you keep.

U.S. Copyright Office: permission, excerpts, and adaptations

If a video depends on unlicensed material and you are unsure about an exception, seek legal advice for that use or choose a version you can make with cleared assets. Copyright exceptions vary by country. A US fair use explanation cannot settle the rules that apply to every creator or publication.

YouTube Help: fair use, credit, and copyright claims

07 · BEFORE YOU POST

Check platform originality separately

Rights and platform eligibility answer different questions. In its April 2024 Instagram announcement, Meta said that it would recommend the original when it confidently matches identical posts, with exceptions for significantly changed versions. Those recommendation rules are separate from its intellectual property policies. An exception to replacement does not give you copyright permission.

Meta: Instagram original-content recommendations (April 2024, Portuguese)

YouTube’s reused content policy governs monetization and can apply even when the original creator gave permission. If earning through YouTube is the decision you are making, read the YouTube reused content policy guide alongside your rights check. Permission alone cannot answer whether your channel meets that policy.

YouTube Help: channel monetization and reused content

Before posting, compare the actual finished video with your filming plan. Check every asset you kept from elsewhere, then check the rules for the platform and any monetization program you use. The creative decision is easier to defend when you can show how your own question, footage, and reasoning became the work viewers see.

08 · SOURCES

Sources and scope

The Copyright Office sources explain US copyright principles; YouTube’s help pages explain fair use and its separate monetization policy. Meta’s official Portuguese announcement describes Instagram’s 2024 originality changes. They provide general guidance, while the rights and law applicable to your particular video need their own assessment.

Sources checked October 8, 2026. The desk example and worksheet are Kabo’s constructed teaching material, with no measured performance results. The filming workflow is an editorial recommendation, not a legal opinion on a specific remake.