YouTube Introduces Free and Paid Downloads
YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing website now recently added a long anticipated new feature – free and paid downloads. The move can account, of course, for commercial purposes. The services are at this time in testing phase and YouTube partners only have the possibility to upload such (downloadable) videos. Meanwhile, an also new "Purchases" tab can now be found under "My Videos".
The companies YouTube has reached deals with can charge a small download fee for videos they’ve submitted. Apart from this, the author can have his/her content put under various types of license (Creative Commons and Public Domain included) with Google Checkout supervising the business deals.
The videos available for download come in MP4 format and the paid videos are DRM-free. This means user will be able to play both free and paid videos on different media players and devices.
Currently, the “Purchase” option is accessible by U.S. residents only.
From YouTube’s blog:
Many video creators on YouTube want their work to be seen far and wide. They don't mind sharing their work, provided that they get the proper credit. Using Creative Commons licenses, we're giving our partners and community more choices to make that happen. Creative Commons licenses permit people to reuse downloaded content under certain conditions.
We're also testing an option that gives video owners the ability to permit downloading of their videos from YouTube. Partners could choose to offer their video downloads for free or for a small fee paid through Google Checkout. Partners can set prices and decide which license they want to attach to the downloaded video files (for more info on the types of licenses, take a look here).
For example, universities use YouTube to share lectures and research with an ever-expanding audience. In an effort to promote the sharing of information, we are testing free downloads of YouTube videos from Stanford, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCTV (broadcasting programs from throughout the UC system). YouTube users who are traveling or teachers who want to show these videos in classrooms with limited or no connectivity should find this particularly useful.
