To filter or not to filter?

YouTube has launched filtering tools designed to weed out copyrighted content.

Called Video Identification, the technology requires that content owners provide copies of restricted material to compare with video on the site, according to BBC News.

The technology also allows content owners to leave their videos running on YouTube alongside their own advertising.

YouTube has been testing the ID filtering service for the past six months with partners Time Warner and Disney.

Word has it that the tool still needs fine-tuning. But its launch timing couldn't be better for Google, currently swamped in a billion-dollar legal battle with Viacom and NBCU, among others, over copyright infringment.