The idea is to insert advertising into clips posted by MySpace users. This is to be accomplished by using Auditude, a new tool that automatically identifies almost every professionally made video in the universe.

With Auditude, not only can ads be inserted into videos, but the resulting monetary stream will ensure payments to the copyright holders as well as channel a few dollars to MTV Networks, and ultimately, parent company Viacom.

Of course, Viacom is in the midst of a billion-dollar lawsuit against YouTube and its corporate owner Google. By having MTV Networks partner with MySpace to attach advertising to user-contributed video, Viacom is saying that it is possible to support a wide-open video environment and make payments to content owners.

But making sure content owners are paid is only the steak part of the deal. The sizzle comes from creating an environment where MySpace users can freely upload copyrighted video without fearing those dreaded “takedown notices” often issued by a ticked-off content owner.

To create the software needed to identify user-contributed clips, Auditude has indexed more a billion minutes of professional video, including more than 250 million videos and four years worth of 100 channels on television. That might not represent all the professionally made video in the world, but it’s a good start.

“Auditude is opening the floodgates for users to program video on MySpace and ensure copyright holders get paid,” said Jeff Berman, MySpace President of Marketing & Sales. “In one fell swoop, Auditude and its partners are empowering consumers and building a better business model. That’s a good deal all around.”