YouTube Updates Video Editing Tools, Allowing Creators To Automatically Release Manual Copyright Claims

Today, YouTube rolled out the manual copyright claiming changes we first reported in March. Now, entities that manually file a copyright claim on a video must provide that video’s creator with timestamps indicating where in the video their copyrighted content has been used.

However, in addition to the changes we previously reported, YouTube has also introduced new updates to its video editing tools for creators that will help them more easily removed copyrighted content — and will allow them to release manual claims on their videos themselves.

Here’s how it works. When someone files a manual copyright claim against a creator’s video, a creator can now use YouTube’s updated onsite editing tools to zero in on the timestamped section where the claimant says their copyrighted content is being used. The creator then has several options. One, they can choose to mute all sound in the section where the copyrighted content — say, a song — can be heard. Two, they can choose to replace the song with a free-to-use tune from YouTube’s Audio Library. Or, last up, they can choose to cut the timestamped section out of their video entirely.

The big thing is that if a creator chooses any of these options to remove the copyrighted content from their video, and uses YouTube’s editing tool to make the changes, the claim on their video will then automatically be released.

The editing tool updates have been met with a swell of excitement from creators:

In a blog post about the updates, YouTube said it’s working on even more updates to the tool, including “an explicit Trim option in the Video Copyright Info page that will allow you to trim out the claimed content with just one click.”

YouTube also reminded creators that if they believe a copyright claim is incorrect, they can file a dispute within 30 days. Additionally, the platform clearly explained what goes on with monetization during the claiming and dispute process: “If both you and the person claiming your video are attempting to monetize it, we will continue to show ads on the video during the dispute process and make sure the appropriate party gets the revenue once the dispute is resolved.”

You can read more about YouTube’s updated manual content claiming policies here.