Deactivate a reference

These features are only available to partners who use YouTube Studio Content Manager.

At times, you may want to suspend Content ID matching for an asset, either temporarily or permanently. To suspend Content ID matching, you need to deactivate an asset’s reference.

When you deactivate a reference, Content ID no longer claims user-generated videos for the asset. You can choose whether to release existing claims made using the reference or only prevent new claims.

Deactivating a reference suspends Content ID matching for the entire reference. If you want to exclude matching for certain segments of the reference, you can exclude those segments from your reference rather than deactivating it.

Notes: 

• Deleting the video from which the reference was created also deactivates the reference. You can also deactivate a reference by releasing your claim on the partner-uploaded video.
• Only the reference provider can deactivate and reactivate a reference.
  • If the provider is no longer an owner of the asset, another owner can take action.
  • If an asset has two or more owners, you may need to work with another owner to resolve the overlap.

Make a reference inactive

1. Sign in to Studio Content Manager.
2. From the left menu, select Assets .
3. Click the title of the asset that has the reference you want to deactivate. A detail page opens to show more details about the asset.
4. Click References  from the left menu.
5. Find the row of the reference you want to deactivate.
6. In the Status column, click the Active  dropdown and select Inactive.
   • To release existing claims that were made using this reference, check the Release all claims checkbox.
   • To retain existing claims and only prevent new claims from being made, leave the Release all claims checkbox unchecked.
7. Click SAVE.

To reactivate a deactivated reference, follow Steps 1 through 5 above, click the Inactivedropdown, select Active, then click SAVE.

Make multiple references inactive

1. Sign in to Studio Content Manager.
2. From the left menu, select Assets .
3. Click the checkbox next to the names of the assets with references you want to deactivate.
   • To refine the list of assets, click the filter bar  at the top and select a filter.
4. From the top banner, click Edit .
5. Select Deactivate references.
6. Click the Deactivate references  dropdown and choose an option:
   • To retain existing claims and only prevent new claims from being made, select Deactivate References.
   • To release existing claims that were made using these references, select Deactivate references and release all claims.
7. Click UPDATE ASSETS.

Tip: You can also deactivate references using the “Reference - Management” content delivery template. Learn more.