Written by Robert Rios
Good news for wannabe film makers and anyone else who has been stymied by YouTube's rule of only allowing videos 15 minutes or less to be uploaded. A selection of users are having the cap lifted as the company rewards its members who have abided by the site's community guidelines and copyright regulations.
The 15-minute time limit on YouTube videos has long been the bane of creative types and business owners who just aren't satisfied with having to break everything up into parts. In the past, you could apply for a Director's Account that would let you supersede the limit. Then, YouTube cancelled that service, leaving old account holders free to upload videos of any length but not allowing any more new applications. All other YouTubers have had to simply accept the 10-minute time limit (raised to 15 in July).
Partner Account holders, similarly, had been allowed to upload videos of any length, but in order to qualify for that status, you typically had to attain tens of thousands of views on your videos first, and still go through the application and approval process.
This time limit was not to preserve bandwidth or storage space, but rather to keep users from uploading copyright-protected movies and TV shows that they had downloaded from the Web. This didn't deter pirates, though. It only left them dividing half-hour shows into thirds and movies into chapters of roughly 9 minutes, 59 seconds each.
YouTube may have realized that its anti-piracy measures proved simply a hindrance rather than a safeguard, and it's taking the first steps towards getting rid of the ceiling.
For now, the removal of these limits isn't quite universal. New users still will have the 15-minute limit while established account holders with no major copyright violations to their credit will be allowed to upload longer videos.
YouTube has clarified that it's going to be "taking their time rolling this out", suggesting that an eventual universal lift on the time limits may well take place at some point in the future.
This seems to tie in nicely with YouTube's use of video-matching, wherein it will take legal material uploaded by content holders and seek out video matches on the site, instantly finding and removing any illicit copies of copyrighted material.
What does this mean for YouTubers? It could mean that we're going to see the site become an even bigger player in the new media, allowing users to upload entire Web shows and independent films, or it could just mean that video bloggers are more free to go on and on for hours on end. We'll have to wait and see.
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