Forget the Oscars, YouTube to launch User-Generated Content awards

It's like somebody forgot to tell YouTube that Time Magazine's 'Person of the Year' was YOU. Except that couldn't have been the case, as YouTube's founder and poster child, Brad Churley, was heavily featured in Time's coverage. So why is it then that YouTube has waited till March 07 to launch its 'YouTube Video Awards' for 2006?

Mind you, Churley and co. have had other things on their minds ;)

Later today, YouTube users will be able to vote on nominees for the seven categories:

1. Most Inspirational
2. Most Creative
3. Best Series
4. Best Comedy
5. Musician of the Year
6. Best Commentary
7. "Most Adorable Video Ever." (Can you tell YouTube is located in California?)

One notable omission is an award for the best professionally produced and copyright-infringed video.

Nominees (which include big hitters such as Lonelygirl15 and Ask a Ninja) will be invited to upload new content over the next five days to promote themselves and canvas for votes. After which, we can expect a round of acceptance speeches. If successful (which I think it's guaranteed to be), the YouTube Video Awards will become an annual event, and could be given their own off-line ceremony ala the Oscars (though not quite on that scale).

Update: Don Dodge (an ex-VP of Product Development at Napster) says the awards are a tactic by YouTube designed to deflect from their legal woes. The idea, he says, is to show the courts that there is "substantial non-infringing use" of the service.

And... Marshall Kirkpatrick has aggregated all of the nominees into a single Splashcast channel.