What is a Manual Claim?

If you get a manual claim, that means that a copyright owner identified that their copyrighted content has been used without their permission and used the Manual Claiming tool to claim your video. A manual claim is different from an automated Content ID claim, which is generated when a video uploaded to YouTube is scanned against a database of files that have been submitted to us by content owners and the system finds a match between the audio or visual reference files and the video. 

The Manual Claiming tool lets select copyright owners who have demonstrated an advanced working knowledge of YouTube's Content ID matching system to manually make claims on their content in uploaded videos not otherwise made by the Content ID matching system. Copyright owners can't use manual claiming for any other purpose. Improperly claiming content that they don't own can result in penalties including legal liability and termination of partnership.

It's important that creators always have detailed knowledge about who is claiming content in their videos, where it appears and what they can do to resolve the claim. That's why all new manual claims will require copyright owners to provide timestamps to indicate exactly where their copyrighted content appears in videos they claim and we've updated our editing tools to make it easier to automatically release a claim.

Where can I see if I received a Manual Claim?

To find specifics about a manual claim on your video, visit the Video Copyright Info page of YouTube Studio. We will also email you when you get a claim.

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. From the left menu, select Videos.
3. Click on Copyright claim next to the respective video under the Monetisation column if available. Otherwise, you'll see this option under the Visibility column.
4. Click on View Copyright claim details to get to the Video Copyright Info page that provides information such as what's being claimed in your video and who claimed it.
5. Click on the down arrow to expand the claim details row where you'll see Video manually claimed by copyright owner under the video player if it's a manual claim.
6. Use the video player to identify and play the segment that's been manually claimed in your video.
   • Coming soon! Timestamps provided by the claimant will be visible below the copyright owner's policy.

 What can I do if I get a Manual Claim?

If you get a manual claim, there are a few different things you can do, depending on the situation:

• Do nothing: If you agree with the claim, you can just move on. You can always change your mind later if you disagree with the claim.
• Share revenue: If you're a member of our YouTube Partner Programme, and you've included a musical composition in your video, you may be able to share revenue with the music publisher. Learn more.
• Dispute the claim: If you believe that the claim on your video is wrong, you can dispute it. Learn more about disputing a Content ID claim and monetisation during Content ID disputes.

You also have the option to remove or replace the manually claimed content (without having to upload a new video), which will automatically release the associated claim:

• Mute all sound when the song plays: If you get a claim for a piece of music in your video, you can mute the entire timestamped segment. Learn more.
• Mute only the song: For some manual claims made prior to the timestamps requirement where we have match information available, you may have the option to mute just the claimed song while keeping the background audio intact. Learn more.
• Replace the song: If you don't want to mute the audio entirely, you can instead swap out your audio track with one of our free-to-use songs from the YouTube Audio Library. Learn more.
• Trim out the content: You can also trim out the timestamped segment using the YouTube Editor. Learn more.
  • Coming soon! One-click trim option will be available in the Video Copyright Info page.