YouTube's updated eraser tool removes copyrighted music without impacting other audio

On July 4, YouTube released an updated eraser tool for creators so they can easily remove any copyrighted music from their videos without affecting any other audio such as dialogues or sound effects.

YouTube chief Neal Mohan posted about the tool on X and said, “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 company said that it had been testing the eraser tool for a while, but it wasn’t as accurate in removing a copyrighted song. It noted that the new tool uses an AI-powered algorithm to specifically detect and remove that song without impacting other audio in the clip.

On its support page, YouTube still warns that, at times, the algorithm might fail to remove just the 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, creators can choose to select “Mute all sound in the claimed segments” to silence bits of video that possibly has copyrighted material. Once the creator successfully edits the video, YouTube removes the content ID claim—the company’s system for identifying the use of copyrighted content in different clips.