A ban on broadcasting video clips of the proceedings of the House of Commons on YouTube could come to an end in the coming weeks after months of delicate negotiations between the Palace of Westminster and broadcasters led by the BBC.

Existing rules forbid YouTube or any other website, such as a newspaper's, from embedding any clips of parliamentary proceedings – meaning that the only way to watch parliament online is via the news clips from the major broadcasters, live on the BBC's Parliament channel or the Westminster website.

Officially the ban, which dates back to the introduction of TV in parliament, exists to preserve the copyright in the footage, which is shared between the Palace of Westminster and the principal broadcasters. But privately, MPs and broadcasters say that Westminster officials are afraid that people could "mash up" parliamentary clips to make MPs look foolish.

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat MP for Dumbarton East, has long campaigned for the ban to be relaxed. "The situation is absolutely nuts. What we are told is that officials are concerned about video being taken out of context or abused – but you can do that with the text of Hansard if you wanted, so the ruling is not consistent."

There was considerable unhappiness that a clip of Gordon Brown picking his nose whilst seated in the Commons during PMQ became a mini-YouTube hit in 2007. The clip, watched nearly 470,000 times, remains on YouTube, despite the ban – although Westminster authorities have periodically asked for such clips to be removed.

There is a limited exemption for MPs, who are allowed to put up clips of their own speeches on YouTube, but even they have to prevent third parties from embedding those clips.

Negotiations have been going on for over 18 months within the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit Limited, a committee of officials and broadcasters responsible for licensing parliamentary footage. If the BBC succeeds, it would allow any third party to "embed" prime minister's questions, or any part of the proceedings of parliament.

Video search technology used by the BBC means that it is possible for newspapers or bloggers to search an entire day's proceedings and easily pick out sections of interest to use. The BBC declined to comment, because negotiations are at a sensitive stage.