What's up with Youtube and the Copyright wars?

[Aldurin]

So I've been trying to follow what's been going on very recently with Youtube's copyright management system going tits-up against gaming videos, but I haven't found any details on what actually started this iteration of the debacle. Are more companies pulling a Nintendo, or are random people calling copyright claims on videos from a library computer for shits and giggles?


To give you an idea how well this recent change is received.

[Aerozord]

I think its probably their automated system is more aggressive. I had one of my videos taken down within literal minutes of me uploading it. I doubt even one person saw that thing

[Bells]

It's the corner of the abyss.

Essentially this si the crux of what happened... Youtube is trying to change it's rules as to accomodate better the huge boom of gaming channels. In as such, it is coming down harder on Networks.

From Polygon: "We recently enabled Content ID scanning on channels identified as affiliates of MCNs [Multi Channel Networks]," a YouTube spokesperson told Polygon. "This has resulted in new copyright claims for some users, based on policies set by the relevant content owners."

Essentially, there is so many Youtube channels for games now, and so many for Networks, which were semi-protected, that youtube was loosing the grip of control over Ad revenue and legit claims... so they did this.

Problem is two fold...

1- Many companies (one example: Ubisoft) have made NO claims. And even have gone public to state that they will not and don't want to do any Flag Claims... even for monetized content. Yet, Youtube's automatic system did for them.

2- The system is bugged. And many claims are being made towards Youtubers and associating their content to companies that are NOT the actually owners of the rights of certain audio or video content...

So you end up with a lot of youtubers who pay their bills with this stuff being unable to make revenue from their work by companies that don't have the actual right to stop them and even from content by companies that support what they do.

Needless to say... the pro youtubers are pissed.

For people like me with tiny and young channels, this is not a big deal... simply because the tide hasn't hit my front door yet... i had no flags on my 96 videos. but people who post daily and have over 1000 are reporting up to 300 flags, which is a bitch.


Youtube also added a feature that allows you to request removal from your network if you wish. And the network has to respond... supposedly this is a combined effort to "level" the playing field for gameplay channels by cutting out the larger masses of people that are clutterig the system right now in a way that only people who actually work with this stuff in a serious manner may survive...

Problem is... it's not working. nobody knows what final form this will take, and this leaves the future of gameplays and let's plays (monetize or otherwise) with a huge question mark above it.

For me for example, i don't pay my bills with my Youtube channel. it's a hobby... but even i managed to nab a few contacts and even a couple of companies to support this. I would love to go pro with this stuff i just can't right now... and these changes on youtube might make it easier for good contet creators to grow and show up on the long run... or everybody crashes and burns.

So i'm posting Indie stuff and live action sketches until then...

[Loyal]

Originally Posted by Bells

Needless to say... the pro youtubers are pissed.

For people like me with tiny and young channels, this is not a big deal... simply because the tide hasn't hit my front door yet... i had no flags on my 96 videos. but people who post daily and have over 1000 are reporting up to 300 flags, which is a bitch.

Oh yes indeed.

I seriously hope this leads to some other system rising to prominence, but at this point the Youtube behemoth is running on simple inertia; people continue to use it because it's already there, and useful, and moving off-site would be difficult and time consuming. I doubt Youtube is ever going to get better unless there's an actual, mass exodus from the site which forces them to acknowledge that there is a problem.

Twitch is cool, but I'm hoping for something smaller to rise so that there's actual competition.

[Aldurin]

Well that sucks, the whole point of being part of a network was to avoid copyright claims and to simplify authorizing more content.

If this goes under, we might see a resurgence of entertainment being primarily hosted off-site with self-dependent software structure similar to Roosterteeth and the now-dead Normal Boots. At the very least Twitch is going to be far more attractive to livecomm gamers when held against this shitstorm.

[Bells]

That's for sure. You can already find people praying for Twtich to be more friendly towards "non live" content...

And the Networks are also pretty pissed simply because they were not told anything or warned in advance about any of this. It just happened... Machinima for instance, had a daily barrage of "guys don't panic we're on it" on twitter, because it was one of the most affected by this... but so far no official stance or solution was sent to the partners.

[Bells]

Loyal, your link is broken. By any chance was this one? Cause this is a good one...



The problem is that there is no system that can be birth right now that would rival Youtube without being slaughter by lawsuit from game developers who don't want their content there or Networks that don't want to deal with a new system...

Even if you think of something like "Oooh a network of reviewers fueled by donations, like wikipedia!" it still falls on the same pit...

Irony is the word of the day though, since PewDiePie is in Youtube's rewind 2013 video and HE is likely to be affected by this (but wont...) and i think he was the only Gamer Youtuber on that video at all...

I mean, if i had a dream scenario to put on the table? Youtube will split. There will be a "Gametube" or something of the sort in 2014 with it's own set of rules and geared 100% towards gaming content. And the original Youtube will remain for everything else.

[Aldurin]

Maybe Valve will announce Steam Video, changing the world forever.

[Bells]

Steam Stream Machine?

Steam Network?

If you publish a game on Steam you have to Opt in or Out of allowing monetize gameplay on the selling page of the game?

Holy hell i would opt for that...

[Aerozord]

Maybe what we need is a new start-up. One dedicated to lets plays and other gamer content. Tempted to do it myself but not sure if I have enough clout to raise money, plus its hard to find help in the technical fields