Google is taking a new step toward helping YouTube creators protect their copyrighted work.
The company is releasing a new Copyright Match tool that is designed to find content that has been re-uploaded on other channels.
Creators can upload videos using the tool, which YouTube will then scan and attempt to find other videos that are the same or similar.
When a match is found it will appear in the “matches” tab within the Copyright Match tool.
From there, the creator can decide what to do next. This could involve getting in touch with the other channel(s), initiating a takedown request, or simply doing nothing at all.
The copyright owner will be determined based on who uploaded the video first.
“It’s important that you’re the first person to upload your video to YouTube. The time of upload is how we determine who should be shown matches.”
Google notes that this tool is designed to find full re-uploads, meaning clips of partial content will not be shown in the “matches” tab.
If creators happen to find clips of their content uploaded by other channels they can always report it using the copyright web form.
The Copyright Match tool will start rolling out next week to creators with over 100k subscribers. Eventually the tool will become available to every creator in the YouTube Partner program.
Google says it has been testing this tool for nearly a year in an effort to make it safe and effective for everyone. It will continue to monitor usage closely.
