YouTube requiring time stamps for manual Content ID claims

As of late, YouTube creators have noticed an uptick in manual Content ID claims from copyright owners. The Google video service today announced fixes with a new time stamp requirement, while introducing new tools for YouTubers on the other side.

We’ve heard from creators that the recent uptick of manual claims, especially for short segments, has led to some confusion, as the claims sometimes lack key information that can help to resolve the issue.

Copyright owners are now required to to provide time stamps for manual Content ID claims. This lets creators “know exactly which part of their video is being claimed,” just like auto-generated warnings. YouTube Studio features a visualization of where the manually claimed content appears, along with other details.

You’ll now see exactly where the manually claimed content appears in your video. This will help you understand why you got a claim, and what part of your video to edit if you choose to remove the claimed content.

At the same time, Google is aiming to reduce abuse from copyright holders by evaluating the accuracy of submitted time stamps. Those that “repeatedly fail to provide accurate data” will lose access to the manual tool.

To address a legitimate claim, YouTube has two tools to manually remove claimed content in a video and automatically have it released:

• Mute Song: If you get a claim for a piece of music in your video, you can mute the time-stamped segment. This means no sound will play at all in your video during that segment. Learn more about muting a claimed song from your video.

• Replace Song: If you don’t want to mute the audio entirely, you can instead swap out the music with one of our free-to-use songs from the YouTube Audio Library. Learn more about swapping the audio track on your video.