YouTube recently unveiled an enhanced eraser tool designed to help creators effortlessly remove copyrighted music from their videos without disrupting other audio components like dialogue or sound effects. YouTube’s chief, Neal Mohan, announced the tool’s release on X, stating, “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).”

According to a video from YouTube, the tool had undergone extensive testing but initially lacked precision in removing copyrighted songs. The updated version leverages an AI-powered algorithm to accurately detect and eliminate copyrighted music while preserving the remaining audio in the video. Despite the improvements, YouTube’s support page advises that the algorithm may occasionally struggle to isolate and remove only the song. The company cautions, “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.”

Alternatively, creators have the option to select “Mute all sound in the claimed segments” to silence sections of the video containing copyrighted material. Once the video is successfully edited, YouTube removes the content ID claim, its system for identifying copyrighted content in different clips.