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YouTube targets piracy by limiting video length

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Elinor Mills
2 min read

YouTube is limiting the length of videos people can upload in an attempt to cut back on the number of pirated movies and TV shows people can't resist putting up on the popular video-sharing Web site.

"We did some analysis of the videos in our system over 10 minutes in length, and we found the overwhelming majority of them were full length, copyrighted videos from TV shows and movies," the company wrote in posting on its blog on Monday. "However, we also recognize that there are legit content creators out there who may have videos over 10 mins, so we've created a Premium Content Program for those of you with professional-produced videos."

The Premium Content Program does not cost anything, a YouTube spokeswoman said. "We created the program to verify that the content is uploaded by the owners," she wrote in an e-mail.

A blogger at Arstechnica on Wednesday questioned whether the move would really curb rampant piracy on the site.

"Clearly, the hope is that the 10-minute limitation will result in most TV shows and other longer programs staying off of YouTube," wrote Ken Fisher. "Will the free-wheelin' copyright infringement come to a close? It's doubtful, because a 10-minute limitation doesn't really stop people from uploading unauthorized content. After all, 'Napoleon Dynamite' is 82 minutes long, and YouTube is packed with ripped scenes and satires, a good portion of which are not examples of fair use. But now, YouTube is giving it the old college try. The popularity of the site doesn't hinge on the portion of its contents that derive from infringement, but a YouTube sans TV and movie clips is a different YouTube than some of its users are used to."

YouTube has been forced to remove copyright-protected video from its site, including two short "Saturday Night Live" rap music video skits, one called "Lazy Sunday: The Chronicles of Narnia" in February and one involving Natalie Portman in March. NBC has asked YouTube and other video download sites to remove thousands of clips they claim are copyright protected.