YouTube Question Question about exclusivity of channel name

[sjs94704]

I have my channel name which is one word. When I got my notice to create my handle I grabbed it, so the handle I wanted for my channel is mine!

I did a YT search and filtered the search to return only channels. It did return other channels with the same name, but on investigation, I noticed that the channel that came up first in the search results, their most recent video is 8 yers old! And the others 4-7 years old, etc.....

There is a clear distinction from what my channel is about vs the others as well. Not even close!

I realize I could Trademark the name. But, I am simply curious if YT has any process in place where short of an actual trdemark of the name that through some sort of application process that someone can gain exclusive use of a channel name?

 

[MediaMan]

I did similar research and didn't find much. You can't copyright a youtube channel name but you can trademark a name, which could help if someone uses your channel name. As long as channels with similar or exact names aren't cloning a channel, I doubt YouTube will do anything. I can't help wonder how YouTube is going to handle.....handles. Even though they are reserving handles based on channel name, previous custom url, I could see where some channels could lose their appropriate handle name.

I didn't know custom urls were being phased out. This is good news since it's one less branding issue to worry about.
"New custom URLs can no longer be set up and existing custom URLs can no longer be changed."

Custom URL overview - YouTube Help

Custom URLs now redirect users to your new URL that is based on your handle. If you need to change your URL, you can do this by updating your handle at yout

support.google.com

Fwiw.. each of my channel's names, handles are the same. I also purchased the exact same .com domain name to go along with them. I forward the domain name to my youtube channel home page. I also document on the channel "The Official YouTube Channel Of MyDomain.com". I did this mainly just as a precaution for possible issues in the future, but I also think it adds a touch of professionalism (subliminally) when someone visits the channel.

 

[sjs94704]

I did similar research and didn't find much. You can't copyright a youtube channel name but you can trademark a name, which could help if someone uses your channel name. As long as channels with similar or exact names aren't cloning a channel, I doubt YouTube will do anything. I can't help wonder how YouTube is going to handle.....handles. Even though they are reserving handles based on channel name, previous custom url, I could see where some channels could lose their appropriate handle name.

I didn't know custom urls were being phased out. This is good news since it's one less branding issue to worry about.
"New custom URLs can no longer be set up and existing custom URLs can no longer be changed."

Custom URL overview - YouTube Help

Custom URLs now redirect users to your new URL that is based on your handle. If you need to change your URL, you can do this by updating your handle at yout

support.google.com

Fwiw.. each of my channel's names, handles are the same. I also purchased the exact same .com domain name to go along with them. I forward the domain name to my youtube channel home page. I also document on the channel "The Official YouTube Channel Of MyDomain.com". I did this mainly just as a precaution for possible issues in the future, but I also think it adds a touch of professionalism (subliminally) when someone visits the channel.

GREAT! Thanks so much for the feedback! So ... Maybe this should become a whole new thread, but is there some way to get help coming up with a more unique name for my channel (I am not married to my channel name)? What I mean is so that I can truly separate myself from other people and be a distinctive brand as well as like you I can grab the .COM, etc ... from the very beginning ...... and get a good start.....I honestly do not mind starting a whole new account and channel from scratch because I am a new channel creator.

 

[MattCommand1]

I have my channel name which is one word. When I got my notice to create my handle I grabbed it, so the handle I wanted for my channel is mine!

I did a YT search and filtered the search to return only channels. It did return other channels with the same name, but on investigation, I noticed that the channel that came up first in the search results, their most recent video is 8 yers old! And the others 4-7 years old, etc.....

There is a clear distinction from what my channel is about vs the others as well. Not even close!

I realize I could Trademark the name. But, I am simply curious if YT has any process in place where short of an actual trdemark of the name that through some sort of application process that someone can gain exclusive use of a channel name?

For us mere mortals with small brands/trademarks/etc, the chance of having another channel duplicate your channel name is a very real possibility. I think the most practical way to fight off other channels with the same or similar names is to be as distinct as you can be to separate yourself through color, imagery, fonts, content, style, etc.

I don't think we can stop people from naming channels the same or similar to ours. The best we can hope for is to do such a good job on our channels that others do not want to collide with US vs. the other way around.