When must a YouTube creator disclose AI-generated or altered content, and how is it labelled?

YouTube requires disclosure (Studio upload > Attributes > "AI use") for realistic AI-generated or meaningfully altered content: making a real person appear to say or do something, altering footage of a real event or place, generating a realistic scene that did not occur, or creating music that is the main focus. Not required: clearly unrealistic content, minor/aesthetic edits, and production assistance (outlines, scripts, thumbnails, titles, captions, upscaling, cloning one's own voice). Labels appear in the description or on the player (music and photorealistic content). YouTube may auto-label content made with its GenAI tools, content carrying C2PA metadata, or content its systems detect; creators can usually correct it. The page states disclosure alone does not limit reach or monetization. Implication for AI music videos (frequent in creator tutorials): AI-generated music as the focus requires disclosure. Curator correction 2026-10-24 (discovery audit record C3-B1072-01, curator-reviewed C3R-0688; excerpts re-located by independent curator GET 2026-10-24): Correction. The earlier record C3-B335-02 says YouTube may auto-label content made with its GenAI tools, content carrying C2PA metadata, or content its systems detect, and that 'creators can usually correct it'. The same YouTube Help page (Disclosing use of altered or synthetic content) says correction is possible only 'in most cases' when YouTube's systems make an error, and then states that labels on content made with YouTube's AI tools, content containing C2PA metadata, or content labeled after manual review cannot be adjusted. So only the systems-detected category is generally correctable; two of the three listed auto-label triggers are not. The page also warns that creators who consistently choose not to disclose "may be subject to manual application of a label, or penalties from YouTube, including removal of content or suspension from the YouTube Partner Program". The sentence was on the page in the 2026-09-01 Wayback copy and on the live page read 2026-10-24, so the earlier summary was incomplete when written, not merely outdated. The rest of C3-B335-02 (four disclosure triggers, exempt production assistance, disclosure alone not limiting reach or monetisation) matched the live page on 2026-10-24. Curator qualifications: All disclosure rules, exemptions, label placements, automatic labelling and the monetization statement verified on the live page (2026-10-23). The implication for AI music videos follows directly from the "music that is the main focus" rule. Limitations: Policy page current at fetch; may change without notice. Effects on reach not independently measured (page statement only). Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

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      "url": "https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14328491?hl=en",
      "note": "disclosure triggers; not-required list; labels; automatic detection; note on reach/monetization"
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