YouTube is extending its facility for users to directly download videos from the site. It’s also testing a scheme for clip creators to charge for downloads.

Following the launch of direct downloads of clips from Barack Obama’s YouTube channel last month, the site is now letting leading American universities make lecture videos available to download. The clips are available through the Creative Commons license which allows people to reproduce and reuse the content as long as they acknowledge the original source.

YouTube is also experimenting with chargeable downloads where users will pay for clips through Google Checkout. The firm isn’t revealing the exact financial details other than saying it will take a cut of the 99c per clip fee, but clip creators will get the majority of the revenue.

At the moment the tests only cover six clip creators ranging from a home improvement tips channel to a woman showing viewers how to do crochet. The firm is inviting other companies to apply to provide downloadable clips but is only accepting applications from the United States at the moment.

It’s not yet clear whether paid downloads will also be available to view online for free. It would be a tricky choice between people not knowing what to expect from a clip and people having less incentive to buy a clip that they can see for free.

It’s hard to see how this will be a success: users don’t expect to pay for short clips, and there are plenty of places to get full-length videos, both legitimately and otherwise. Indeed, there’s little guarantee that people won’t find ways around the protection system and simply snatch the clips without having to pay.

The scheme seems to have such limited appeal that it almost appears YouTube is more concerned with pitching the idea to stockholders to give the impression they are doing everything possible to make money from the site.

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Entry was posted on Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 5:14 pm under Online video, YouTube.

Read more entries by John Lister.
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