Uploading Gameplay Videos are copright infringement?!

"BULLSHIT!! What a bunch of fucking bullshit!!!" - AVGN, Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Wizard

Before I'll start, please also read Pianodeity08's blog at http://pianodeity08-whatpissesmeoff.blogspot.com/ It's awesome.

I'm not going to post any topic until 29th June (again...), but I'll like to post this because I found out something ridiculous on YouTube Help about copyright infringement.

Gameplay videos are videos of you playing a video game. But does this count as copyright infringement? Does making reviews of video games are copyright infringement? The answer is sadly... yes!

Darksydephil's a famous YouTuber who uploads gameplay videos (Only on X-Box 360 and PS3). Suddenly, he got suspended! Suspended because of uploading gameplay videos?!

There is a topic in YouTube Help here: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=4eaadf0f49befd9a&hl=en

It starts like this:

YouTube,
Posting gameplay videos is totally legal in the US and by no means is it okay to suspend DarksydePhil's channel because of it. Just look at all of the other topics asking you to do the same thing. See a pattern? Yeah, we are pissed. Is this how you want to be thought of?
To all: Go and subscribe to DSP's alternate channel THEKINGOFHATEHD to get all updates on what he is planning to do.
Yours truly,A former DSP subscriber...

Of course, uploading gameplay videos it's quite common in YouTube. If you type "Gameplay" in the search bar in YouTube, you can see millions of videos! Now that's a lot.

But sadly, here's a post I saw after several posts:

Hello Everyone,

I have sad news regarding what happened to DSP. This is directly from:

U.S. Copyright OfficeLibrary of Congress101 Independence Ave SE Washington DC 20559(202) 707-3000www.copyright.gov

I was mad like the rest of you when Phil's account was deleted, but seeing all of the conflicting answers here on the forums, I decided I had to have an iron-clad answer, so I wrote to the U.S. Copyright Office (info shown above) and asked this question:

"I had a question regarding Copyright rules as applied to console and computer game content. Is it allowed for a person to make a video of himself/herself playing a video game, complete with live commentary from him or her, and then post it online for the enjoyment of others, as long as he/she is not doing it for profit?An example of what I am asking would be: John Q Public buys Mass Effect 2 for Xbox 360, makes a video of himself playing the game, and then posts it on youtube or some other online video site, so that other people can see his experience. He posts it because he wants to share his experience with others (he's not doing it for monetary reasons). Is that prohibited under Copyright rules and regulations? Are there any Copyright rules regarding the usage of a video of someone playing a game? Not actual game video ripped directly from the game itself, mind you, but if John Q Public sets up a video camera in front of his TV, and records his experience of the gameplay?"

Here is the answer I received from the U.S. Copyright Office:

"No that is not allowed.
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending
(4) to perform the copyrighted work publicly; and
(5) to display the copyright work publicly.


What you would be doing could be in violation of number 5 and possibly number 4, which would subject you to copyright infringement."


I'm sorry guys, but based on the US Government reply above, DSP's original account is gone for good. There's nothing we can do except ask lawmakers to change or repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.


Sincerely,

GovernmentAnswer


Wait. So if you get the game, you must play the game yourself rather than uploading videos of it? What kind of sense does that make?! Luckily, darksydephil's account has been unsuspended.

But this doesn't make any sense. There are a lot of gameplay videos (millions of them) and game reviews on YouTube, does that mean most of the videos on YouTube are copyright infringement? Stupid copyright laws!

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say that don't upload gameplay videos. It's common to upload them, but make sure you don't upload gameplay videos about games which are producded by Ubisoft. Make sure you don't do so, because Ubisoft reports to YouTube about this, just like what happened to Darksydephil!

Luckily, good companies like SEGA don't do so..... I hope...