Nintendo makes grab for 'lets play' YouTube advertising revenues

17 May 2013 - 13:41 By Times LIVE
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Mario
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Image: Nintendo

Nintendo has reportedly started issuing content ID matches for Lets Play videos that use a lot of Nintendo's intellectual property.

A content ID match allows a company to, instead of taking down a video, make money off of it through adverts, block it from playing in certain countries or block it from playing worldwide.

Originally 'lets play' content began on the Something Awful forums in 2006, when players posted screen caps and stories where they played video games along with commentary. This trend then expanded to include video content on YouTube, where gamers recorded themselves playing games and providing commentary for them.

According to Gamefront, Nintendo's practise of claiming the content for its own came to light when Zack Scott, a noted 'lets play' video creator, found he couldn't monetise several of his videos because Nintendo has issued Content ID matches on them.

In an open letter protesting the decision, Scott argued that it was unduly punitive and likely to hurt Nintendo's sales given how 'lets play' videos often act as free marketing for the games featured.

"Video games aren’t like movies or TV. Each play-through is a unique audiovisual experience. When I see a film that someone else is also watching, I don’t need to see it again. When I see a game that someone else is playing, I want to play that game for myself!" Snyder wrote in his open letter to Nintendo protesting the company's decision to content ID match his videos.

Responding to the controversy Nintendo told Gamefront, "As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database.

"For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips.

"We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property."

According to the Penny Arcade Report the backlash against the decision has included some developers.

Nathan Vella of Capybara Games issued a public announcement giving people who want to make 'lets play' videos permission to use his games and Mike Bithell, creator of Thomas Was Alone, wrote an opinion piece slamming Nintendo's decision.

“Without the frequent infringement of my copyright, the astonishingly aggressive use of my intellectual property and oftentimes presumptuous use of work comprising years of my life, I wouldn't be sat right now, at home, taking a break from my work as a full time indie developer,” Bithell said.

YouTube's Copyright Frequently Asked Questions warns users that, "Just because you purchased content doesn't mean that you own the rights to upload it to YouTube. Even if you give the copyright owner credit, posting videos that include content you purchased may still violate copyright law."

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