What is contingent bodily injury coverage?

Coverage on a media liability policy for a physical injury that someone claims was caused by your content rather than by your operations. The classic case is a viewer who imitates a how-to video and gets hurt. It is usually an endorsement with a sublimit inside the main limit, and defense costs may sit inside that sublimit, so read both numbers.

Does general liability cover a viewer who copied my video?

Usually not for a creator. General liability covers injuries from your operations, such as a guest tripping on your set, and carriers that write creators add exclusions for claims arising from the content. On a recent account the general liability quote excluded it through CG 21 16, and the underwriter confirmed in writing that a copycat injury would not be covered.

Is copycat insurance the same as protection against other channels copying me?

No. Copycat injury is about a viewer getting hurt. Another channel copying your videos is an intellectual property matter, and a media liability policy is about claims made against you rather than claims you bring. Enforcing your own copyright is usually a cost you carry yourself.

Which creators need contingent bodily injury coverage most?

Anyone whose videos teach a physical task. Farm and ranch channels, woodworking and welding, automotive repair, fitness and outdoor skills are the obvious ones, along with anything filmed around animals or power tools. A commentary or gaming channel has little of this exposure and a lot of the defamation and copyright kind.

Does a disclaimer in the video protect me?

It helps and it does not end a lawsuit. A clear warning, visible safety gear and no invitation to try it at home make the case easier to defend and support the argument that the injury was not foreseeable. They do not stop someone from suing, and the defense costs are what the endorsement exists to pay.

On the account behind this page it cost nothing extra. The carrier added the endorsement to a $1,000,000 media liability policy that was quoted at about $1,970 a year with a $5,000 deductible. That is one account, not a range, and a channel built on stunts or dangerous challenges should expect the question to be priced or declined.

A woman in a plaid shirt and safety glasses in a barn workshop holding a chainsaw chain over a workbench, a chainsaw, ear defenders and gloves on the bench and a camera with a ring light filming her from the foreground

Am I liable if a viewer copies my video and gets hurt?

You can be sued, and you can lose if the video invited a dangerous act. The coverage that answers it is contingent bodily injury, which underwriters call copycat injury, written as an endorsement on a media liability policy. General liability sold to creators excludes it. On a ranch channel we quoted in 2026 the media carrier added it at $250,000, inside a $1,000,000 limit with defense costs included, at no extra premium.

Call/Text(626) 344-2158

Glasses on. Chain off. Camera rolling.Somebody at home is watching this without the glasses.

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/ Who handles this

Kevin Kelsey

Founder | Principal Agent

Fifteen years editing television before insurance, Emmy-nominated for The Muppets Mayhem, with Shark Tank, Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars and Wheel of Fortune on the credit list. Film exposures get read here by someone who has been on the crew list rather than someone reading a rate manual, and the credits are on IMDb if you would rather check than take our word for it. We insure productions from Los Angeles to Atlanta, New York and Toronto, including worldwide and foreign production coverage.

IATSE Local 700 member

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The detail

In Weirum v. RKO General (1975) the California Supreme Court held a radio station liable for a death caused by listeners racing to find a disc jockey in an on-air contest, because the danger was foreseeable.
Weirum v. RKO General, Inc., 15 Cal. 3d 40 (1975), CourtListener
In Herceg v. Hustler Magazine (1987) the Fifth Circuit overturned a verdict against a magazine whose article a reader imitated with fatal results, holding the article was protected speech and not incitement.
Herceg v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 814 F.2d 1017 (5th Cir. 1987), CourtListener
YouTube does not allow content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death, and it prohibits challenges that pose an imminent risk of physical injury.
YouTube Help, "Harmful or dangerous content policies"

What this means for you

Ask for the endorsement by name.Contingent bodily injury is not automatic on a media policy. On the placement behind this page the carrier added it when asked, at $250,000 inside the $1,000,000 limit and with defense costs included, and charged nothing for it.
Read where it stops.Media forms exclude the use or misuse of tangible goods and products, and the carrier would not confirm the endorsement reaches an injury involving a tool, a machine or a product shown in a video. Those go back to the farm or general liability policy, so ask both carriers in writing.
Do not count on general liability.The creator general liability quote on the same account carried CG 21 16, the designated professional services exclusion, and the underwriter wrote that a copycat injury would not be covered.
Film as if the clip will be shown in court.Safety gear on camera, a spoken warning, no invitation to try it and no dare in the title all help the defense. They also keep the video inside YouTube’s own dangerous content rules, and a removed video is evidence nobody wants.

Need this handled?

Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.