YouTube's new eraser tool removes copyrighted music without affecting other audio

On July 4, YouTube released a new eraser tool that lets creators remove copyrighted music from their videos without impacting other audio like dialogue or sound effects.

Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube shared on X, "Good news, creators: our updated Erase Song tool helps you easily remove copyright-claimed music from your video (while leaving the rest of your audio intact)."

The video-sharing platform mentioned that it had been testing this tool for a while. The new tool uses an AI-powered algorithm to accurately remove copyrighted music without affecting other sounds in the video.

However, YouTube's support page warns that sometimes the tool might not work perfectly. If it fails to remove the song, creators can mute all sound in the affected segments or trim them out.

The feature is accessible on the "Video Copyright" summary page in YouTube Studio. Creators can choose to either "Erase Song," which targets only the copyrighted music, or "Mute All Sound," which silences all audio within the specified timestamps.

In the video, the platform said, “When a video receives a copyright claim for music content, YouTube offers several editing options in YouTube Studio to help get the claim released. Once the claimed part of a video is addressed, and the claim is removed, creators are then able to monetize their video. Some of these editing options include “Trim”, “Mute” and “Replace Song”."

Once the video is successfully edited, the platform removes the content ID claim, which is its system for identifying copyrighted content in videos.

This update helps creators address copyright issues while keeping their videos active and monetisable. The enhanced tool will be available on both YouTube Studio desktop and mobile in the coming weeks.