Apparently, one ofthe features requested most by the YouTube community has been the ability to upload longer videos. Well request no longer, because it has been announced on the site's official blog that the maximum video-length has been increased to 15 minutes.
The reason for increasing the limit from ten minutes has been put down to improvements in the company's copyright protection tools. Content ID, as it's known, allows content owners to protect their intellectual property automatically by detecting and dealing with infringing videos. The original limit was imposed to curb the unauthorised uploading of copyrighted material, but the strengthened back-end system should allow for tighter control by the rights-holders.
Of course, the limit was lifted for certain professional content-partners some time ago, but this means that everyone can upload longer videos.
To coincide with the change, the site has launched the imaginatively-titled "15 minutes of fame" competition - we're sure Andy Warhol's family will be happy. Budding directors will have the opportunity to let their voices be heard, and the best videos will be chosen to appear as a spotlight on the YouTube front-page. Videos must be uploaded before August 4 with the tag "yt15minutes" to be eligible.
To be honest, we haven't seen too many videos on YouTube that we thought desperately needed to be extended by another five minutes. However, we're sure there are plenty of intrepid film-makers who will find a way to make use of the extra time.
