Monty Python's decision to let viewers watch free clips of its content on YouTube has paid off for the British comedy act, sending sales of its DVD box-set soaring within days, according to the video sharing website's owner, Google.
Matt Brittin, UK country director for Google, said Monty Python was an "interesting example" of how copyright holders could benefit from YouTube.
Speaking at the Media Summit 2009 in London today, Brittin said Video ID let copyright holders identify their content on YouTube and then decide what they want done with it. Many rights holders opt for complete removal but the Monty Python team decided to create an official channel on YouTube instead.
The official YouTube video announcing their plans appeals to viewers to buy DVDs in return for the comedians' decision to allow its clips to be shown and not sue anyone for breach of copyright.
Brittin said Google had an official deal with Amazon in the US and with iTunes in the UK, US and a few other regions, providing links to the retailers' sites next to the Monty Python videos on YouTube.
Within days of the launch of the official Monty Python YouTube channel, sales of the DVD box set had gone up by 16,000% on Amazon – admittedly off a low base, Brittin added.
The box set made it to number two in the Amazon charts and was still selling strongly, despite the fact that all the content was originally created prior to 1983, he said.
Brittin cited the creators of the 1980s children's cartoon shows He-Man and She-Ra as another example of a copyright owner using Video ID to take more control of its content on YouTube, rather than remove it.
Earlier in the day at the Media Summit, Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson singled out Google, along with Yahoo, AOL and MSN, for being "parasitical" organisations that took the vast majority of UK online advertising revenue, without investing back into UK content.
Brittin told the conference that Johnson was a "smart guy" who was currently focused on shoring up funding for Channel 4, but was also probably quite aware that the broadcaster was partnered with Google to help it make money from its website.
In the US, Google is experimenting with using an online auction model to sell excess television inventory. Brittin said it was "early days" but he suspected the UK television market was quite different and it probably wouldn't translate to this side of the Atlantic.
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