diff --git a/pandora/archive/external.py b/pandora/archive/external.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5dac990e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pandora/archive/external.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# vi:si:et:sw=4:sts=4:ts=4
+from __future__ import division, print_function
+
+import json
+import subprocess
+import shutil
+import tempfile
+import os
+
+import ox
+from django.conf import settings
+
+from item.models import Item
+from item.tasks import load_subtitles
+
+import models
+
+info_keys = [
+    'title',
+    'description',
+    'duration',
+    'width',
+    'height',
+    'webpage_url',
+    'thumbnail',
+    'ext',
+    'uploader',
+    'subtitles',
+    'tags'
+]
+
+info_key_map = {
+    'webpage_url': 'url',
+    'ext': 'extension',
+}
+
+def get_info(url):
+    cmd = ['youtube-dl', '-j', '--all-subs', url]
+    p = subprocess.Popen(cmd,
+                         stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                         stderr=subprocess.PIPE, close_fds=True)
+    stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
+    stdout = stdout.decode().strip()
+    info = []
+    if stdout:
+        for line in stdout.split('\n'):
+            i = json.loads(line)
+            if not i.get('is_live'):
+                info.append({
+                    info_key_map.get(k, k): i[k]
+                    for k in info_keys
+                    if k in i and i[k]
+                })
+    return info
+
+def add_subtitles(item, media, tmp):
+    for language in media.get('subtitles', {}):
+        for subtitle in media['subtitles'][language]:
+            if subtitle['ext'] in ('vtt', 'srt'):
+                data = ox.cache.read_url(subtitle['url'])
+                srt = os.path.join(tmp, 'media.' + subtitle['ext'])
+                with open(srt, 'wb') as fd:
+                    fd.write(data)
+                oshash = ox.oshash(srt)
+                sub, created = models.File.objects.get_or_create(oshash=oshash)
+                if created:
+                    sub.item = item
+                    sub.data.name = sub.get_path('data.' + subtitle['ext'])
+                    ox.makedirs(os.path.dirname(sub.data.path))
+                    shutil.move(srt, sub.data.path)
+                    sub.path = '.'.join([media['title'], language, subtitle['ext']])
+                    sub.info = ox.avinfo(sub.data.path)
+                    if 'path' in sub.info:
+                        del sub.info['path']
+                    sub.info['extension'] = subtitle['ext']
+                    sub.info['language'] = language
+                    sub.parse_info()
+                    sub.selected = True
+                    sub.save()
+
+def download(item_id, url):
+    item = Item.objects.get(public_id=item_id)
+    info = get_info(url)
+    if len(info) != 1:
+        return '%s contains %d videos' % (url, len(info))
+    media = info[0]
+    cdir = os.path.abspath(os.curdir)
+    tmp = tempfile.mkdtemp().decode('utf-8')
+    os.chdir(tmp)
+    cmd = ['youtube-dl', '-q', media['url']]
+    p = subprocess.Popen(cmd,
+                         stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                         stderr=subprocess.PIPE, close_fds=True)
+    stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
+    fname = list(os.listdir(tmp))
+    if fname:
+        fname = os.path.join(tmp, fname[0])
+        oshash = ox.oshash(fname)
+        f, created = models.File.objects.get_or_create(oshash=oshash)
+        if created:
+            f.data.name = f.get_path('data.' + fname.split('.')[-1])
+            ox.makedirs(os.path.dirname(f.data.path))
+            shutil.move(fname, f.data.path)
+            f.item = item
+            f.info = ox.avinfo(f.data.path)
+            f.info['extension'] = media['extension']
+            f.path = '%(title)s.%(extension)s' % media
+            f.parse_info()
+            f.selected = True
+            f.save()
+            f.item.save()
+            f.extract_stream()
+            status = True
+        else:
+            status = 'file exists'
+        add_subtitles(f.item, media, tmp)
+    else:
+        status = 'download failed'
+    os.chdir(cdir)
+    shutil.rmtree(tmp)
+    return status
diff --git a/pandora/archive/tasks.py b/pandora/archive/tasks.py
index 41172cf7..8c61726f 100644
--- a/pandora/archive/tasks.py
+++ b/pandora/archive/tasks.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from django.db.models import Q
 from item.models import Item
 import models
 import extract
+import external
 
 _INSTANCE_KEYS = ('mtime', 'path')
 
@@ -169,3 +170,7 @@ def update_stream(id):
     for c in s.file.item.clips.all():
         c.update_calculated_values()
         c.save()
+
+@task(queue="encoding")
+def download_media(item_id, url):
+    return external.download(item_id, url)
diff --git a/pandora/archive/views.py b/pandora/archive/views.py
index bde0ce88..905e8dda 100644
--- a/pandora/archive/views.py
+++ b/pandora/archive/views.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from changelog.models import add_changelog
 from . import models
 from . import queue
 from . import tasks
+from . import external
 from .chunk import process_chunk
 
 
@@ -718,3 +719,48 @@ def getEncodingStatus(request, data):
     response['data']['status'] = queue.status()
     return render_to_json_response(response)
 actions.register(getEncodingStatus, cache=False)
+
+@login_required_json
+def getMediaUrlInfo(request, data):
+    '''
+    Get info (title, duration,...) about given media url,
+    if url is a playlist, result has info about each item.
+
+    takes {
+        url: string // url
+    }
+    returns {
+        items: [{title, url,...}] // info for each url found
+
+    }
+    '''
+    if not request.user.profile.capability('canAddItems'):
+        response = json_response(status=403, text='permission denied')
+    else:
+        response = json_response()
+        response['data']['items'] = external.get_info(data['url'])
+    return render_to_json_response(response)
+actions.register(getMediaUrlInfo, cache=False)
+
+@login_required_json
+def addMediaUrl(request, data):
+    '''
+    Import video from url and add to item
+
+    takes {
+        url: string, // url
+        item: string // item
+    }
+    returns {
+        taskId: string, // taskId
+    }
+    '''
+    if not request.user.profile.capability('canAddItems'):
+        response = json_response(status=403, text='permission denied')
+    else:
+        response = json_response()
+        t = tasks.download_media.delay(data['item'], data['url'])
+        response['data']['taskId'] = t.task_id
+        add_changelog(request, data, data['item'])
+    return render_to_json_response(response)
+actions.register(addMediaUrl, cache=False)
diff --git a/static/js/importMediaDialog.js b/static/js/importMediaDialog.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f0d11e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/importMediaDialog.js
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+'use strict';
+
+pandora.ui.importMediaDialog = function(options) {
+    var 
+        $content = Ox.Element().css({margin: '16px'}),
+        $url = Ox.Input({
+            label: Ox._('Url'),
+            labelWidth: 32,
+            width: 384
+        })
+        .css({
+            marginTop: '16px'
+        })
+        .bindEvent({
+            change: function(data) {
+                $info.empty();
+                that.disableButton('import');
+                if (data.value) {
+                    $info.append(loadingIcon());
+                    getInfo(data.value, function(items) {
+                        $info.empty();
+                        if (items.length) {
+                            // FIXME: support playlists / multiple items
+                            var info = items[0];
+                            that.enableButton('import');
+                            $info.append($('<img>').css({
+                                'max-width': '128px',
+                                margin: '4px',
+                                float: 'left'
+                            }).attr('src', info.thumbnail));
+                            $info.append($('<div>').css({
+                                'font-weight': 'bold'
+                            }).html(info.title));
+                            if (info.duration) {
+                                $info.append($('<div>').html(Ox.formatDuration(info.duration)));
+                            }
+                            $info.append($('<div>').html(info.description));
+                        } else {
+                            $info.empty();
+                            that.disableButton('import');
+                        }
+                    });
+                }
+            }
+        })
+        .appendTo($content),
+        $info = Ox.Element()
+            .css({margin: '8px'})
+            .html('Enter a url from another site (like YouTube) to create a new item.')
+            .appendTo($content),
+        that = Ox.Dialog({
+            buttons: [
+                Ox.Button({
+                    id: 'cancel',
+                    title: Ox._('Cancel')
+                })
+                .bindEvent({
+                    click: function() {
+                        that.close();
+                    }
+                }),
+                Ox.Button({
+                    disabled: true,
+                    id: 'import',
+                    title: Ox._('Import')
+                }).bindEvent({
+                    click: importMedia
+                })
+            ],
+            closeButton: true,
+            content: $content,
+            fixedSize: true,
+            height: 176,
+            keys: {
+                escape: 'cancel'
+            },
+            removeOnClose: true,
+            title: Ox._('Import Media'),
+            width: 416
+        });
+    window.$info = $info;
+    function getInfo(url, callback) {
+        pandora.api.getMediaUrlInfo({url: url}, function(result) {
+            callback(result.data.items);
+        });
+    }
+
+    function addMedia(url, callback) {
+        pandora.api.getMediaUrlInfo({url: url}, function(result) {
+            result.data.items.forEach(function(info) {
+                pandora.api.add({title: info.title}, function(result) {
+                    var edit = {
+                        director: info.uploader ? [info.uploader] : [],
+                        id: result.data.id,
+                        notes: info.url,
+                        summary: info.description,
+                        topic: info.tags
+                    };
+                    pandora.api.edit(edit, function(result) {
+                        pandora.api.addMediaUrl({
+                            url: info.url,
+                            item: edit.id
+                        }, function(result) {
+                            if (result.data.taskId) {
+                                pandora.wait(result.data.taskId, function(result) {
+                                    Ox.print('status?', result);
+                                    callback(edit.id);
+                                });
+                            } else {
+                                callback(edit.id);
+                            }
+                        });
+                    });
+                });
+            });
+        });
+    };
+
+    function importMedia() {
+        var url = $url.value();
+        $info.empty();
+        $info.append(loadingIcon());
+        that.disableButton('import');
+        that.disableButton('cancel');
+        addMedia(url, function(item) {
+            if (item) {
+                that.close();
+                Ox.Request.clearCache();
+                pandora.URL.push('/'+item+'/media');
+            } else {
+                $info.empty().html('Import failed');
+                that.enableButton('cancel');
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    function loadingIcon() {
+        return Ox.LoadingIcon().css({
+            margin: 'auto',
+            marginTop: '64px',
+            width: '100%'
+        }).start();
+    }
+
+    return that;
+};
diff --git a/vm/pandora_install.sh b/vm/pandora_install.sh
index 3d36a996..6949e248 100755
--- a/vm/pandora_install.sh
+++ b/vm/pandora_install.sh
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ apt-get install -y \
     gpac \
     imagemagick \
     poppler-utils \
+    youtube-dl \
     ipython \
     postfix \
     postgresql \