Development of the “Claim Your Content” tool has taken on greater sense of urgency since media giant Viacom sued Google’s YouTube ubsidiary.
Claim You Content would appear as a tool button on web pages alongside video material uploaded by users to let content owners lodge complaints to get copyrighted material removed from YouTube faster.
Google chairman and chief executive Eric Schmidt said the tool would let the content owners automate the take-down process.
“It is not a filtering system and doesn't block downloads; it makes it much quicker for us to remove copyrighted content,” Mr Schmidt said.
It is not clear whether the measures outlined by Google will be enough to placate Viacom, which earlier this month launched a US$1 billion (A$1.2 billion) lawsuit against YouTube for breaches of copyright.
Google acquired YouTube in a stock-swap deal for US$1.6 billion last year.
Viacom has complained YouTube leaves the onus for copyright protection on the content owners, rather than YouTube as publisher.
YouTube communications chief Julie Supan said the new tool does not itself identify copyright material, because it can’t identify what copyright material the content owners want on YouTube, and the material it doesn’t.
Rather, the company is testing identification technology that helps content owners more identify and locate their content on YouTube, and then give them the ability to either request the material be removed or to leave it up for promotional and marketing purposes, she said.
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