Is posting Game Videos on Youtube really illegal?

[J T]

Have any game companies fought against this or requested YouTube to take down videos?

It seems it would be a stupid mistake to do that because watching online video is one of the chief things that gets me excited about a game and often leads to a purchase.

[Hatta]

"could be sued" doesn't mean "is remotely likely to be sued". As far as I know, no one has been sued for this kind of material. If they did sue, you'd win. Don't be intimidated because it's not impossible for you to get sued. Anyone can sue anyone for anything.

[slowslow325]

I remember reading somewhere that one of the exceptions (under fair use) was if you have critical commentary over the gameplay footage. So let's plays usually have something like that.

[Unleaded Logic]

Out of all the game reviews I've done, the only copyright notice I received was from EA. However, they just had it marked that they owned the rights to the game and let me video go.

No company is going to turn down free promotion.

[Pulsar_t]

I sometimes watch gameplay videos to avoid buying a game, and I reckon I'm not the only one. This could potentially mean lost sales?

Sega take (takes?) action against people who videotape VF5 arcade gameplay. Prudish, or just being protective of their #1 arcade franchise?

[weasels]

i really see no reason to worry redd. if you want to be sure your within the safe zone just credit the game in the info. like Unleaded Logic said, No company is going to turn down free promotion.

as for the issue i think it's rather juvenile for game companies to claim that it is illegal to put up video's of their games on sites like this. it's not like they are loosing money or anything. if anything companies should be happy that the gamer is honoring their game and trying to spread the word that the game is good.

[Weekend_Warrior]

There's been quite a few companies that have forced people to remove their game videos from their page. I know one person in particular, BoogerBoyMeister, received a warning notice from YouTube saying that if he infringed upon copyrighted material again that his account would be suspended. All he did was show a quick video of a new game demo (Dante's Inferno) that had just come out (for free) on XBLA.

Here's his video response:

[Limewater]

I remember reading somewhere that one of the exceptions (under fair use) was if you have critical commentary over the gameplay footage. So let's plays usually have something like that.

Yeah, but I have a hard time buying that. Mystery Science Theater 3000 was just commentary over old films. They had to either stick with stuff in the public domain or get films whose rights they could afford. There's a reason that RiffTrax distributes only audio commentary meant to be played simultaneously with a movie.

I realize that a game is a little different, but a Let's Play through an entire game is asking for trouble, if you asked me. It's a rather substantial part of the product being sold, and that has issues related with point three of the legal excerpt Hatta posted.

Thanks for posting that, by the way, Hatta.

[jeffro11]

Things are legal until you get caught.

[emwearz]

If you dont use mainstream music, you will never be asked t take it down.