Why is this important: If you're a YouTuber, dealing with copyright claims for music in your videos is probably a huge headache. You've spent hours crafting the perfect video only to get flagged for unknowingly using a copyrighted song in the background. Thankfully, YouTube has introduced a new AI-powered tool that makes it easy to remove copyrighted audio.
YouTube's “Remove Song” feature allows users to precisely remove only the copyrighted song from a clip while leaving all other audio intact. YouTube chief executive Neil Mohan promoted the new tool on X/Twitter, saying that the tool makes it easy to remove copyrighted music from a video while keeping all other audio intact.
This feature has actually been around in beta for a while now, but it wasn't always great. The updated version uses advanced AI algorithms to more accurately detect and isolate only copyrighted music, leaving things like narration and sound effects unaffected.
Great news for creators! Our updated “Remove Song” tool makes it easy to remove copyrighted music from your videos (while leaving the rest of your audio intact). Learn more… https://t.co/KeWIw3RFeH
– Neal Mohan (@nealmohan) July 3, 2024
If for some reason the “Clear Song” tool doesn't work to remove it, YouTube gives you the option to mute the audio for flagged segments that contain copyrighted material.
“If you have difficulty removing the song, this edit may not work. If you are unable to successfully remove the claims from your video with this tool, you can try other editing options, such as muting all sound in the claimed portion or trimming the claimed portion,” the company said on its support page.
Not ideal, but better than losing the entire video due to a claim.
Using the feature is easy. Go to YouTube Studio > Content and filter by copyright claims to find the video in question. In the Restrictions column, hover over the copyright and click “View details.” The specific claim will be displayed. Click “Choose an action” to choose whether you want to trim, replace, or mute the problematic audio segment.
It's great for creators to have an easy way to laser-screw copyrighted songs from their perfectly good final videos. Of course, the best solution is to not use copyrighted music in the first place, but that's not always possible when shooting on location, editing existing footage, or simply making amateur mistakes, so YouTube's new AI Eraser offers a handy fix.
The updated Delete Songs feature will be available on YouTube Studio desktop and mobile in the coming weeks.
