Las Vegas - Google will soon implement a filter on its YouTube video-sharing site to prevent the uploading of copyrighted material, according to comments made by CEO Eric Schmidt at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference on Monday, CNET News.com reported.

"We are very close to turning this on," Schmidt said.

Called "Claim Your Content," the system will automatically identify copyrighted files and flag them for removal.

YouTube has received repeated demands from various copyright owners to remove clips uploaded by users from the site.

Last month, Viacom -- which owns MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures and other media assets -- filed a $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against Google.

"You're either doing business with them [Viacom] or being sued by them...we chose the former, but ended up the latter," Schmidt told the NAB audience.

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