diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
index 655836ff6..0f6049cb4 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import os
 import re
 import socket
 import sys
+import netrc
 
 from ..utils import (
     compat_http_client,
@@ -161,6 +162,10 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
         """Report attempt to confirm age."""
         self.to_screen(u'Confirming age')
 
+    def report_login(self):
+        """Report attempt to log in."""
+        self.to_screen(u'Logging in')
+
     #Methods for following #608
     #They set the correct value of the '_type' key
     def video_result(self, video_info):
@@ -225,6 +230,36 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
         else:
             return res
 
+    def _get_login_info(self):
+        """
+        Get the the login info as (username, password)
+        It will look in the netrc file using the _NETRC_MACHINE value
+        If there's no info available, return (None, None)
+        """
+        if self._downloader is None:
+            return (None, None)
+
+        username = None
+        password = None
+        downloader_params = self._downloader.params
+
+        # Attempt to use provided username and password or .netrc data
+        if downloader_params.get('username', None) is not None:
+            username = downloader_params['username']
+            password = downloader_params['password']
+        elif downloader_params.get('usenetrc', False):
+            try:
+                info = netrc.netrc().authenticators(self._NETRC_MACHINE)
+                if info is not None:
+                    username = info[0]
+                    password = info[2]
+                else:
+                    raise netrc.NetrcParseError('No authenticators for %s' % self._NETRC_MACHINE)
+            except (IOError, netrc.NetrcParseError) as err:
+                self._downloader.report_warning(u'parsing .netrc: %s' % compat_str(err))
+        
+        return (username, password)
+
 class SearchInfoExtractor(InfoExtractor):
     """
     Base class for paged search queries extractors.
diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
index 7c4562790..ac32043c1 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/vimeo.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class VimeoIE(InfoExtractor):
 
     # _VALID_URL matches Vimeo URLs
     _VALID_URL = r'(?P<proto>https?://)?(?:(?:www|player)\.)?vimeo(?P<pro>pro)?\.com/(?:(?:(?:groups|album)/[^/]+)|(?:.*?)/)?(?P<direct_link>play_redirect_hls\?clip_id=)?(?:videos?/)?(?P<id>[0-9]+)(?:[?].*)?$'
+    _NETRC_MACHINE = 'vimeo'
     IE_NAME = u'vimeo'
     _TEST = {
         u'url': u'http://vimeo.com/56015672',
@@ -31,6 +32,25 @@ class VimeoIE(InfoExtractor):
         }
     }
 
+    def _login(self):
+        (username, password) = self._get_login_info()
+        if username is None:
+            return
+        self.report_login()
+        login_url = 'https://vimeo.com/log_in'
+        webpage = self._download_webpage(login_url, None, False)
+        token = re.search(r'xsrft: \'(.*?)\'', webpage).group(1)
+        data = compat_urllib_parse.urlencode({'email': username,
+                                              'password': password,
+                                              'action': 'login',
+                                              'service': 'vimeo',
+                                              'token': token,
+                                              })
+        login_request = compat_urllib_request.Request(login_url, data)
+        login_request.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded')
+        login_request.add_header('Cookie', 'xsrft=%s' % token)
+        self._download_webpage(login_request, None, False, u'Wrong login info')
+
     def _verify_video_password(self, url, video_id, webpage):
         password = self._downloader.params.get('videopassword', None)
         if password is None:
@@ -50,6 +70,9 @@ class VimeoIE(InfoExtractor):
                                u'Verifying the password',
                                u'Wrong password')
 
+    def _real_initialize(self):
+        self._login()
+
     def _real_extract(self, url, new_video=True):
         # Extract ID from URL
         mobj = re.match(self._VALID_URL, url)