If the strategy works on MySpace, where millions of videos are streamed every month and where watching premium content is one of the most popular activities, other networks will follow suit, predicts Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey.

"This is a sign that we are finally ready to do this," McQuivey said. "Two years ago the solution was 'Let's sue YouTube and block this.' It really hasn't worked. Now the solution is 'Let's create a system where content can derive some benefit.' "

MySpace is enthusiastic about the concept rolled out by Palo Alto-based Auditude. MySpace doesn't have to play copyright cop, controlling what consumers can and can't watch on its site. Instead, it gets a split of the advertising revenue. MTV Networks gets to target ads to fans of its shows and direct them to its shows and merchandise.

And consumers get to share some of the content they want without having it blocked or removed, said Jeff Berman, MySpace's president of sales and marketing.

"This is a game changer," Berman said. "This takes us from a world of 'no' to a world of 'yes,' where the audience gets to curate content, express and share it as they choose, while copyright holders are not only respected, they get to make money."

Auditude Chief Executive Adam Cahan, a former executive of Google and MTV Networks, said he joined the company a year ago when it was still based in Los Angeles because he was intrigued by the prospect of helping media companies reach their fans across the Web. He has already signed up Warner Bros.

He says Auditude can identify virtually any professional video uploaded across the Internet because it has indexed more than 1 billion minutes of professional content, including 250 million videos and four years' worth of television from 100 channels. Then content owners can decide whether they want to run ads with the content.

"What we saw was a problem, and we tried to bring a solution to it and make it into an opportunity," Cahan said.