Gameplay Videos Getting Flagged On YouTube Again

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It looks like policy changes could make it hard for folks to make a buck off YouTube "let's play" videos.

YouTube has confirmed it's taking a fresher, steely approach to videos flagged by its "Content ID Match" system, which will have an impact on monetization of Let's Play content. Prominent accounts such as TheRadBrad, TetraNinja and GhostRobo have received claims, which seem to be targeting music specifically. A YouTube representative told Game Informer that these claims are part of some policy updates to better help content networks be more transparent.
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Annnnnd youtube takes another big step towards becoming a massively-micro-subscription service.
 
This will essentially kill a lot of youtubers that do things like game reviews. I just saw the SolarGamer's video showing his "copyright violations", so f'ing lame.
 
This 'content protection' bullshit is getting WAY out of hand. Pretty soon, you won't be able to film a guy if he's whistling a tune, because it's infringing on the original tunes owner...

I think these major companies have made their slogan - "Let's fuck over our customers and make it look like a good thing so they come back!".
 
We need a new youtube and people who won't sell out to run it. Greed is such a bitch.
 
Google isn't a very good company, and the Android OS on my S3 is garbage compared to WP8.
 
Once you get to a certain size like youtube, the amount of legal pressure put on you for these things means you can't really say no.

lol @ "google is a bad company fi4ht tha pow3r" dipshittery
 
InternationalHat said:
Once you get to a certain size like youtube, the amount of legal pressure put on you for these things means you can't really say no.

lol @ "google is a bad company fi4ht tha pow3r" dipshittery
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Google has so much money they literally could get blowjobs from their entire staff from every lawyer on earth.
 
Does this affect people like me, who just do Let's Play for the fun of playing? I don't have a monetized account.
 
Yes. It will most likely affect you as well. Probably won't be as fast though.

That said, I can't really blame Google, because it's technically the law, however stupidly retarded it is. Though.... I don't know if Google had any play in getting those laws passed or not. I'm betting on the not side, since DMCA came out in the late 90s and Google wasn't far along or anything yet.
 
InternationalHat said:
Once you get to a certain size like youtube, the amount of legal pressure put on you for these things means you can't really say no.

lol @ "google is a bad company fi4ht tha pow3r" dipshittery
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This is pretty much unavoidable once a [media streaming] company like Youtube gets too big: They garner too much notice and attention to themselves that media companies and copyright owners will start pressuring them into taking action.

That or they sue the company into bankruptcy.

It's a double-edged sword: Either cater to your users or bow down to copyright owners to prevent being sued out of business.

Lose one and you'll lose money, no matter what side they choose to side with.

The problem here are the copyright owners. Sooner or later there won't be any Youtube content worth watching because of too many takedown notices. It's going to stifle creative content and fan-made works. All those game reviewers and Let's Play videos will no longer exist if this continues.

Do copyright owners expect some teen or no-name game reviewer or game fan in the middle of the US or the middle of Europe to file a form to have permission to use someone's music in their video or re-create a fan rendition of it? And, pay royalties to the copyright?

Fuck. No.

It's asking for the impossible out of every Youtube user, or even every Vimeo user or any user of a video streaming website that lives off of user-created content.

Are they going to sue every Tom-Dick-and-Harry for using some music in a video of some idiots doing stupid stuff?

It's a futile effort on the copyright owners. You can't sue everyone. And, you can't force Youtube to start taking down every video out there or it'll kill off the website and drive away users.

Copyright laws need to change or are in desperate need of an overhaul.
 
pothb said:
Yes. It will most likely affect you as well. Probably won't be as fast though.

That said, I can't really blame Google, because it's technically the law, however stupidly retarded it is. Though.... I don't know if Google had any play in getting those laws passed or not. I'm betting on the not side, since DMCA came out in the late 90s and Google wasn't far along or anything yet.
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Yup, Google had no part in this, they're just complying with the DMCA and copyright laws. Unfortunately, they have to comply since they own Youtube.
 
UrielDagda said:
Does this affect people like me, who just do Let's Play for the fun of playing? I don't have a monetized account.
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Yes it will. My videos aren't monetized and over a third of them have copyright claims against them. It's overblown though for people like me, as really, all that will happen is that your video will have advertisements infused into them, which was partly the reason I didn't choose to monetize my channel in the first place.
 
UrielDagda said:
Does this affect people like me, who just do Let's Play for the fun of playing? I don't have a monetized account.
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Nytegard said:
Yes it will. My videos aren't monetized and over a third of them have copyright claims against them. It's overblown though for people like me, as really, all that will happen is that your video will have advertisements infused into them, which was partly the reason I didn't choose to monetize my channel in the first place.
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One of the arguments I'm seeing online from other users is that:
You're showing gameplay content to other people who don't own the game nor haven't played them.

​
In the developer's eyes, they consider that as a violation of their copyright over the game because you're FREELY showing gameplay of the game regardless if you monetize or not with Youtube. In another argument, it's the equivalent of recording a sports game, for example, when you're at the stadium then uploading it to a place like Youtube and streaming it for free to other users. To the developers, that gameplay content is also copyrighted and showing any gameplay or the entire game to other users who don't own it is a violation of their copyright. A violation of the DMCA in their eyes.

It's a really far-fetched argument to tell you the truth.

A lot of people are siding with the Youtube users, and a small number are siding with Youtube's decision on the takedown notices.
 
I have over 1000 videos, most of them are private, but some are not. They're mostly raid videos from world of warcraft. So with this new BS I'll probably have to take down everything. Then i'll just stop uploading videos forever.
 
Galvin said:
I have over 1000 videos, most of them are private, but some are not. They're mostly raid videos from world of warcraft. So with this new BS I'll probably have to take down everything. Then i'll just stop uploading videos forever.
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Raid videos like that would be fine, or someone recording themselves doing stupid stuff in Battlefield 3 or 4 for a brief moment is also alright.

However, if the videos fall under the following:

  • Playing a game from beginning to end.
  • Using copyrighted music in your videos.
  • Making money off videos using copyrighted content.
.... Then, you're probably hurting the feelings of some game developer and their copyright owners.

To me, it's honestly stupid. I stream games on Twitch.tv but I'm not making any money off of them. I have recorded videos of myself playing computer games but I'm not making money off of that either. In one of my videos, I've had to actually remove the entire audio track because I'm listening to music while playing League of Legends, or while playing some MMO. I got several notices on that.

Ok, fine, I'll listen to in-game music while I record but you know what: in-game music gets repetitive after a while especially after playing the game for X-amount of years.
 
Great, you know, another use for it is, when I get stuck in a game, or looking for a better way to do something, I look up videos..

Maybe they think that just makes it so they can't sell cluebooks!

I hate this fascist bullshit.. Corporations want unbridled "freedom", the lowest taxes, and no regulation... Then they want to tell everybody else what to do, and control people AFTER they pay for their products.
 
Game play videos shouldn't need ads. Just by having the video you're promoting the game. Which makes the video an ad in its self. Your video is helping to sell the game.
 
Also let's not forget the double whammie, playing a game WITH copyrighted music INGAME. Holy shit, the DMCA stampers must be having a field day with GTA let's plays.
 
NickJames said:
Also let's not forget the double whammie, playing a game WITH copyrighted music INGAME. Holy shit, the DMCA stampers must be having a field day with GTA let's plays.
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Hell, with Borderlands and Borderlands 2 the background music MADE FOR THE GAME gets flagged as a performance of copyrighted music.

I never had them bitch about the game itself, just the background music.. It's stupid. That should be limited to pure unadulterated version of said music, not it playing in the background, broken up with sound effects, dialogue and interrupted by environment changes.
 
UrielDagda said:
Hell, with Borderlands and Borderlands 2 the background music MADE FOR THE GAME gets flagged as a performance of copyrighted music.

I never had them bitch about the game itself, just the background music.. It's stupid. That should be limited to pure unadulterated version of said music, not it playing in the background, broken up with sound effects, dialogue and interrupted by environment changes.
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Ugh, that happened to me on one of my Borderlands 2 videos.

It's because the fracking music in the game is available on the Borderlands 2 soundtrack, which is also copyrighted. For fuck's sake, I'm just showing off a weapon I found in-game.

And, yes, I had to remove the audio from the video and re-upload it. :(
 
Galvin said:
Game play videos shouldn't need ads. Just by having the video you're promoting the game. Which makes the video an ad in its self. Your video is helping to sell the game.
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You've missed the "issue".

The umm... big(?) youtube channels that mostly post letsplays are run by people who play videogames and make their living off of the ad revenue. Somewhere along the way, "playing videogames and not necessarily even being good at doing so, while recording your gameplay" became a career for some people.It's everything from clips and discussions of aspects of multiplayer games, to full play throughs of single player games, to stuff as bland as building things in minecraft on video for 60 hours.
 
octoberasian said:
Ugh, that happened to me on one of my Borderlands 2 videos.

It's because the fracking music in the game is available on the Borderlands 2 soundtrack, which is also copyrighted. For fuck's sake, I'm just showing off a weapon I found in-game.

And, yes, I had to remove the audio from the video and re-upload it. :(
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Happened to me in a Dirt 3 replay I uploaded. So much for the 'quick and easy' uploading to Youtube when I had to remove the in-game music...
 
Meanwhile the NSA is laughing at the Fourth Amendment, and all those court decisions.
 
I wonder if PS4 and XONE users that can stream their games to Twitch.tv and make money from them are going to be affected, or even upload clips of them playing Killzone or Titanfall.

Are they also going to get takedown notices for copyright violations when a company like Microsoft and Sony offered the feature in the first place?

Merc1138 said:
You've missed the "issue".

The umm... big(?) youtube channels that mostly post letsplays are run by people who play videogames and make their living off of the ad revenue. Somewhere along the way, "playing videogames and not necessarily even being good at doing so, while recording your gameplay" became a career for some people.It's everything from clips and discussions of aspects of multiplayer games, to full play throughs of single player games, to stuff as bland as building things in minecraft on video for 60 hours.
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One of the Youtube users I follow makes thousands of dollars a month off ad revenue. Another that my friend is subscribed to, this user makes on average $3000 to $3500 a month off the monetize feature that Youtube offers.I know one that is unable to work because of her disability and makes money off streaming games she plays on Twitch.tv.

A Twitch.tv user that my friends and myself follow makes around $10,000-plus a month off ad revenue because he is that popular amongst Twitch users.

Like I said in another forum post in [H]'s news-- you can make a decent living off of this IF you play games often and have the kind of personality that attracts people to your Youtube or Twitch.tv channel. You could be some stereotypical gamer that lives in the basement of their parent's home and make a living just playing games most of the day.

Years ago during the SNES/Genesis and early DOS/Windows games, this used to be a joke amongst people and parents pointing out that you can't make money sitting on your ass and playing games all day.

Fast forward to the 21st. century and people are doing just that.
 
Merc1138 said:
You've missed the "issue".

The umm... big(?) youtube channels that mostly post letsplays are run by people who play videogames and make their living off of the ad revenue. Somewhere along the way, "playing videogames and not necessarily even being good at doing so, while recording your gameplay" became a career for some people.It's everything from clips and discussions of aspects of multiplayer games, to full play throughs of single player games, to stuff as bland as building things in minecraft on video for 60 hours.
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What's so bad about that? It takes a lot of time to pump out that much content.. For every hour playing it takes an hour and a half to two hours of work or more, for people with all the fancy intros and outros and other edits.

People doing it for a living can put in 12-14 hour days with it.

I don't do it for profit, and just getting out a few hours of content a day can be time consuming.
 
UrielDagda said:
What's so bad about that? It takes a lot of time to pump out that much content.. For every hour playing it takes an hour and a half to two hours of work or more, for people with all the fancy intros and outros and other edits.

People doing it for a living can put in 12-14 hour days with it.

I don't do it for profit, and just getting out a few hours of content a day can be time consuming.
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I didn't say there was anything bad about it at all. I pointed out those are the people earning money that gets the content owners in a fit causing youtube/google to start it's content searching nuclear missile launch.

It's ad revenue going into the pocket of someone who isn't the content owner, the content owners do not like that.
 
Merc1138 said:
I didn't say there was anything bad about it at all. I pointed out those are the people earning money that gets the content owners in a fit causing youtube/google to start it's content searching nuclear missile launch.

It's ad revenue going into the pocket of someone who isn't the content owner, the content owners do not like that.
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As has already been mentioned, it's mostly the audio which flags a copyright claim. People use to get around this by having their voice overlay the audio track. It's one of the reasons I started making videos on YouTube. I just wanted a Let's Play that wasn't filled with some kid talking constantly. I just wanted to see the game. I also didn't want to have to deal with 15 seconds of advertisements before I could see the game.

This doesn't really bother me though. I've yet to have a video taken down. Sure, a few can't be played in some countries, but I have no clue which countries those are. And if 10-20 of my videos have advertisements, so be it. That's the cost of being free.

(Although, I'd rather just have games have original music than a licensed sound track, but that's another issue.)
 
Nytegard said:
As has already been mentioned, it's mostly the audio which flags a copyright claim. People use to get around this by having their voice overlay the audio track. It's one of the reasons I started making videos on YouTube. I just wanted a Let's Play that wasn't filled with some kid talking constantly. I just wanted to see the game. I also didn't want to have to deal with 15 seconds of advertisements before I could see the game.

This doesn't really bother me though. I've yet to have a video taken down. Sure, a few can't be played in some countries, but I have no clue which countries those are. And if 10-20 of my videos have advertisements, so be it. That's the cost of being free.

(Although, I'd rather just have games have original music than a licensed sound track, but that's another issue.)
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Right. But are the ads on 10-20 of your videos putting money in your pocket or the pocket of the content owner?

If people can actually live off of playing videogames and posting it to youtube, fine. However that doesn't mean the owners of the content that the people are posting(the game) are ok with ad revenue made off of their content being posted, ending up in someone else's pocket. If I remember correctly it was a year ago(maybe even less) that Nintendo had youtube go on a spree taking down videos, issuing claims, etc. because Nintendo wasn't happy with the idea of someone else using their content(the games) to turn a profit without their involvement.

Same thing with even just background music in things, although a lot of that is fairly idiotic. For example someone taking a 2 minute video at a party with music playing in the background isn't trying to make money off of the music playing in the video. But that being said, it's not as if youtube/google is just going to start manually checking every bit of content uploaded when they can to do automatically.
 
octoberasian said:
It's a really far-fetched argument to tell you the truth.
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Of course it is far-fetched. How is it really any different than having some friends over to my house and letting them watch me play (or worse yet I let them play)?

I all for someone getting paid for their work, but there has to a limit at some point. Eventually the copyright owners are going to push a bit too far and it's going to bite them in the ass. Like when that German court ruled porn movies weren't entitled to copyright protection.
 
Merc1138 said:
You've missed the "issue".

The umm... big(?) youtube channels that mostly post letsplays are run by people who play videogames and make their living off of the ad revenue. Somewhere along the way, "playing videogames and not necessarily even being good at doing so, while recording your gameplay" became a career for some people.It's everything from clips and discussions of aspects of multiplayer games, to full play throughs of single player games, to stuff as bland as building things in minecraft on video for 60 hours.
Click to expand...

So? You're still advertising the game just by having people watch.
 
[/INDENT]To the developers, that gameplay content is also copyrighted and showing any gameplay or the entire game to other users who don't own it is a violation of their copyright. A violation of the DMCA in their eyes.[/QUOTE]
The reality filter is that they love to hype up games with completely bullshit prerendered wowgasm clips and such to get a lot of people to buy the game, only to be disappointed with no option for return.

By lifting the curtain and being able to see the game as it really is played online, a lot of consumers will say "lol, hell no" and the false hype is completely destroyed, ESPECIALLY if the commenter is making negative comments about the game or showing bugs.

This is purely a matter of censorship and money, nothing more, nothing less.
 
It is better to use other video sharing sites that are hosted in countries that aren't fascist regimes.
 
In my opinion, there are some games that are designed to be an interactive story, with the story as the main selling point, not the gameplay (bioshock infinite?)

For these games, i consider lets play videos on youtube similar to being feature films on youtube. They are just leeching off of the storyteller's creative work.

But i think the fair use is a little wider than for films, give the audience an example of gameplay, or graphics performance, or a walkthrough of a confusing part.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Something is incredibly hinky at Google.
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Considering so many Publishers have come out in favor of the Youtubers and are helping to remove any false claims it seems a lot of these Content ID flags are either from fake holders or music copyright claims from music publishers.

How fucking pathetic. Youtube needs to create a better system for this issue , you can't just turn away someone who might have a legit argument but the fact that an automated piece of software is just flagging everything in site is fucking bullshit.

I wonder how long it'll be until Twitch is served with an ass ton of copyright notices. I see streamers there constantly streaming music that they know could get them in trouble as well.

But I have to hand it to Publishers (most of them , some are fucking assholes regardless) they are siding with gamers and attempting to resolve this.

I could understand a copyright claim on some douche who reposts game trailers and makes money off of being a leech but someone who activity drives a channel and makes LP's that involve scripting and time to edit as well as other kinds of involvement during the process deserve the cash they make.
 
Godmachine said:
Considering so many Publishers have come out in favor of the Youtubers and are helping to remove any false claims it seems a lot of these Content ID flags are either from fake holders or music copyright claims from music publishers.

How fucking pathetic. Youtube needs to create a better system for this issue , you can't just turn away someone who might have a legit argument but the fact that an automated piece of software is just flagging everything in site is fucking bullshit.

I wonder how long it'll be until Twitch is served with an ass ton of copyright notices. I see streamers there constantly streaming music that they know could get them in trouble as well.

But I have to hand it to Publishers (most of them , some are fucking assholes regardless) they are siding with gamers and attempting to resolve this.

I could understand a copyright claim on some douche who reposts game trailers and makes money off of being a leech but someone who activity drives a channel and makes LP's that involve scripting and time to edit as well as other kinds of involvement during the process deserve the cash they make.
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It's a little more complex than that though. How many people monetize videos using a copyrighted song? I'm not talking about Let's Play videos here, but just in general. Google just might have gotten a little overzealous in their search algorithm for copyrighted material, and a small group of people are now just indirect casualties.
 
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