YouTube Extends Video Upload Limit

YouTube today has extended the video upload limit beyond 15 minutes for selected users, following a move back in July that saw the upload limit raised for all users to the 15-minute mark.

It’s a sign of a shift in tolerance to longer form video content on YouTube, particularly from the site’s vast user-creators who make up the bulk of all its video uploads. So this might mean eager creators start exploring more traditional TV-style half-hour programming, though it’s not clear that’s what the audience is demanding quite yet.

“Starting today, we’ll begin allowing selected users with a history of complying with the YouTube Community Guidelines and our copyright rules to upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes,” wrote YouTube Product Manager Joshua Siegel on the news. This essentially boils down to include all those who aren’t ripping copyrighted content and throwing it up on their accounts.

But even if they did, say, pull the latest music video from Eminem, the improvements in YouTube’s Content ID technology—which is ample to scan and track copyrighted content across the site—would make sure that Mr. Mathers, not the would-be pirate, are getting paid for those views. In fact, according to YouTube, content ID now accounts for over all ad revenue on partner videos.

“Over 1000 global partners use Content ID to manage their content on YouTube, including every major U.S. movie studio and music label,” added Siegel.

Speaking of that Eminem video…