YouTube Lifts the 15 Minute Cap--for Some

I posted this link recently, but it's important news that I'd like to comment on. If you've been honoring YouTube's community guidelines (no copyrighted material) you probably have a new option you may not be aware of. Go to your account and click "upload". If you've been good, chances are you will get a message telling you you are no longer limited to 15 minutes per video upload. "As long as it’s your original content, it’s fair game regardless of length," states the YouTube blog.

One of my goals with my YouTube channel has always been to partner with them to get the time cap lifted. The reason for this was to upload future feature-length material. I fully plan on releasing movies for all to view on 4 platforms: YouTube, Netflix streaming, Vodo P2P and iTunes. YouTube was the only challenge as you can't just create an account and upload your 90 minute (or longer) movie. Now, however, partnering is no longer necessary. It's a reality right now.

If you don't have an account (or you have one that violates their policy), I suggest you create one, right now, and upload your own material. Even if you don't plan on doing anything with your channel of this magnitude, you may want to later. "Clean" content now puts your channel in the pipeline to be given opportunity later. I don't see how we can lose with this.

Of course, YouTube can pull the plug on this whenever they want. The only consolation is that if they have allowed you to upload something long, it will stay they there, even if this offer is rescinded. They've grandfathered past uploads, so I see no reason they won't in the future.