Recently, YouTube announced that it would begin to take part in future legal cases, providing defendants up to one million dollars to pay off legal fees. In a way, YouTube is taking defense against companies who have abused and neglected the full definition of the Fair Use law. If proven an example of Fair Use, YouTube will gladly use the video under attack as an example of Fair Use to assist other users who make content for a living.
One of the grayest of areas on YouTube is the field of copyright and Fair Use. It’s something I have been very careful of myself throughout my years on YouTube. I’ve done parody videos using licensed music and sound effects. I’ve done a handful of Let’s Play videos where I have played games from companies who have openly stated that they don’t take kindly to Let’s Play videos of their content. A friend of mine back in high school dealt with copyright claims a couple of times, even leading to a time where his channel was temporarily shut down. Other times, it was for music from blockbuster movie titles that he used and videos were pulled. As for me, I’ve been hit with a copyright claim once, but the client had a good reason and I stand in support of them, despite a few of my friends thinking different.
In my days of Let’s Plays, I had released a video on a licensed VeggieTales game developed by Crave Entertainment called "LarryBoy & the Bad Apple." I had forgotten to edit out the cutscenes (which were directly pulled from the movie the game was based on) and Big Idea Productions filed a copyright claim. I was lucky that the studio was kind enough to let me keep the video. All they asked was that I cannot make money off of the video. I was not going to argue this case, especially since it went on to be my most viewed video. Plus, Big Idea was very respectful and reasonable about their claim.
While my personal experience with copyright was not a serious one, there are many famous YouTube critics who have been fighting with the Fair Use law, most notably in the gaming industry. Critic Jim Sterling spends his days discussing and presenting his ideas on how the gaming industry should run while criticizing big name companies like Electronic Arts and Konami. However, part of his struggles lie in his coverage of indie developers scamming gamers on the Steam network.
Obviously, these scammers don’t take Sterling’s words kindly. In his latest “Jimquisition” episode (covering this same topic of YouTube’s legal assistance), Sterling has claimed that he has received threats from indie developers he has criticized, even going so far as to stalking Sterling. These developers range from Digital Homicide (who’s infamous for the “Slaughtering Grounds” incident last year), Digpex Games (for Skate Man Intense Rescue), and more recently, MooTech. These people (along with numerous others) have been notorious for filing copyright claims on YouTube reviews as an attempt to hide negative reviews, along with buying pre-made assets only to sell them off again to try and make quick bucks.
These copyright strikes are mere violations of the Fair Use law, which states that content may be used if it is being used for either parody, criticism and education among other purposes. As Jim Sterling reiterates, “Criticism is NOT copyright infringement.”
Indeed, it is not. And as Sterling also says, this is a step forward for YouTubers everywhere. While my encounter with copyright infringement has not been as serious as Sterling’s, it has certainly been a struggle for those like him who have managed to make a career out of YouTube. I plan to make analysis videos on film in the future and the last thing I need is Warner Brothers or Disney filing against me because I’m using footage from their films.
