The National Basketball Association has signed a deal with popular video-sharing Internet site YouTube that will give the NBA the option to remove video from the site.
As part of the agreement, the NBA will also have a new area on YouTube, the "NBA Channel." There, fans can access original NBA content and submit their own basketball video clips as well as rate those of other people in a program called "Post Up the NBA."
The NBA becomes the latest U.S. sports league to join YouTube's "Claim Your Content" program, a content identification and reporting system that allows the NBA to identify its copyrighted content on the sites of others.
If other sites are generating profit from NBA highlights, the NBA can opt to share in the income. In any case, the league will have the option to have the image struck from YouTube.
NBA commissioner David Stern said YouTube's popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach its fans.
The NBA will post selected video highlights and behind-the-scenes footage from its NBA.com site on its YouTube area. And NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their own best moves.
Submitted videos will be selected and compiled into a special weekly highlight reel called "NBA Top 10 on YouTube" that will be featured on the "NBA Channel."
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley said that "by delivering a wide array of programming to YouTube, the NBA will be able to connect with its existing worldwide fan base and reach a vast new audience that is passionate about basketball."
