Nintendo Lays Copyright Claim on Fan-Made Videos

Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has got plenty of fans in an uproar after it moved to collect revenue generated by fan-made videos on YouTube that feature its games. The decision will mostly affect the popular Let’s Play videos, in which gamers provide walkthroughs or simply showcase their skills.

This means that any clips posted on YouTube and containing Nintendo game content will now display advertising. And the income from the ads will go directly to the Japanese company.

The decision is carried out with the help of the Content Match ID feature of YouTube. This system allows TV networks, record companies, publishers, etc. to identify whether their content is used in any video. The videos found to contain such content are then monetized to the benefit of the copyright owners.

Nintendo also insisted that its move to monetize fan-made videos will only affect YouTube clips that feature copyright images or audio content of a certain length. The company said that they made this decision instead of having the videos deleted because they want fans to keep on sharing and enjoying Nintendo content.

The gaming company filed claims against several Let’s Play channels, such as SSoHPOKC or KoopaKungFu, but also against Zack Scott, who has created one of the most prolific and popular game video channels, with over 196,000 subscribers.

Although Nintendo is fully within its rights to lay a claim on the fan-made videos, many fans have criticized the decision and insisted that the videos are actually free advertising for the company and can only increase the popularity of its game titles.

Zack Scott, whose Let’s Play videos have garnered over 81 million views, was especially critical of Nintendo’s decision as being “backwards.” In a long Facebook post, Scott underlined that games are not like movies and that his gameplay videos will actually get people to want to play the title in question. Scott also said that he remains a loyal Nintendo fan, but will stop featuring games produced by the company on his channel until the situation is resolved. Here’s a video summary of Zack’s thoughts on the matter:

[Image via Wired]