Well, ‘all good things must submit to self-restriction under legal pressure from powerful entities,’ as the saying goes. The phenomenally popular clip sharing site YouTube is trying to clamp down on the unauthorized redistribution of copyrighted work – particularly full length films and tv programs – by enforcing a video length of ten minutes or less for free uploads. For creators of “professional-produced videos” over ten minutes who’d like their work to appear on the site, YouTube now has a Premium Content Program.

We can’t blame them for trying to keep out of lawyers’ crosshairs. You’ll remember that YouTube got into trouble with NBC last month for giving a certain SNL sketch too much free publicity, and a more recent SNL rap featuring Natalie Portman was also forced off the site. But YouTube knows the score; “Lazy Sunday” helped YouTube’s use skyrocket, which in turn led to a partnership deal earlier this month to carry content from MTV2. And just today, a Reuters/Hollywood Reporter story says that YouTube has hooked up with E! Networks to promote the cable channel’s online Cybersmack offering, “a compilation of user-generated video clips that satirize pop culture.”

Ars Technica seems to reason that the new rule is mostly cosmetic, citing the fact that YouTube is “packed” with ripped short scenes from films like Napoleon Dynamite that would completely circumvent the ten minute cut-off (and what’s to stop folks from uploading Lost episodes 9 minutes and 59 seconds at a time?). The most notorious instances of YouTube copyright violation, after all, involved two comedy sketches that wouldn’t be ten minutes long put together, and the overwhelming majority of uploads wouldn’t be affected. Still, the regulation will be a nuisance to the producers of such indie films as 10 Minutes and 2 Seconds of Papier Mache.

But viral video sites are legion, and as one falls to the influence of old school media, another will rise to take its place (or so they hope). PaidContent brings news today of Atom Entertainment’s AddictingClips site, which is shaping up as a “full-tilt” center for viral content. Users can share videos, animation, even games – and a new feature allows the submission of material from mobile phones. They also have a racket going to incentivize uploading addictive videos – Cash for Clips awards 250 clams each month to several entertaining virals, “based on AC viewer feedback and our own mysterious whims.” For 250 smackers, we’ll risk a mysterious whim or two.

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