YouTube now lets you erase copyrighted songs from videos

On July 4, YouTube improved its eraser tool for producers, allowing them to effortlessly remove copyrighted music from their videos without harming other audio, such as conversation or sound effects.

YouTube chief Neal Mohan announced the function on X, writing, "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)."

In the video, the business stated that it had been testing the eraser tool for some time, but it was not as effective at deleting a copyrighted song. It stated that the new tool used an AI-powered algorithm to identify and eliminate the song while leaving the rest of the audio in the footage intact.

YouTube's support page warns that the algorithm may not always remove a specific song.

“This edit might not work if the song is hard to remove. If this tool doesn’t successfully remove the claim on a video, you can try other editing options, such as muting all sound in the claimed segments or trimming out the claimed segments,” the company said.

Alternatively, makers can pick "Mute all sound in the claimed segments" to quiet portions of video that may include copyrighted material. After successfully editing the video, YouTube removes the content ID claim, which identifies the use of copyrighted content in distinct clips.