Google adding copyright protection tool to YouTube

Google Inc. announced details this week of a tool they say will allow television and film studios to quickly remove copyrighted video clips from its popular YouTube website.

CEO Eric Schmidt said a "Claim Your Content" option would soon appear on the site to make it easier for copyright holders to report infringements on YouTube.

The new software will not restrict uploading or downloading of copyrighted material, but will allow owners to more easily search for and flag material they wish to be removed.

Schmidt first revealed information about the tool at an annual meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters on Monday and addressed it again Tuesday at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.

"We're testing this with a couple partners, and we're very close to turning this on," said Schmidt.

Google has come under fire for failing to police the content on YouTube since it bought the online video-sharing site in the fall for $1.65 billion US.

Last month U.S. entertainment conglomerate Viacom Inc., sued YouTube and Google for over $1 billion US in damages on claims of widespread copyright infringement.

On Thursday Google reported first quarter profits of $1 billion US, or $3.18 US a share, up 69 per cent from a year ago. The market value of Google now stands at $150 billion US.