• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, February 28, 2007

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has joined the ranks of companies taking issue with YouTube.

Variety reports that the Academy demanded the purge of all Oscar-related clips, including the opening monologue by host Ellen DeGeneres and Will Ferrell's musical act -- which were among YouTube's most viewed clips. (Variety reports that the clips had been deleted, but they appeared to have resurfaced on YouTube as of Wedneday morning.)

The Academy's motive here isn't clear, especially since it's not distributing the clips itself. The official site, Oscar.com, doesn't carry either the entire DeGeneres monologue or the musical number, so it's not as if YouTube traffic is drawing eyeballs away from the official site.

And it's not as if ABC's going to show a rerun any time soon. In fact, Ric Robertson, executive administrator, told Variety the Academy was only trying "to help manage the value of our telecast and our brand."

Even more puzzling, Robertson reportedly said that Oscar.com will ultimately delete the few snippets now available to "whet people's appetite for next year's show."

Does the Academy really believe that making past clips unavailable will encourage people to watch in real-time next year? Or that allowing them to remain on YouTube will somehow discourage people from watching the broadcast? If anything, the opposite appears far more likely: Viewing popular clips will keep the Oscars alive for fans, and that's what will whet people's appetite for more.