Monetizing someone else's gameplay.

UnReaL

UnReaL

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine is having some YouTube drama with another guy.

The second guy takes video game gameplay and reuploads it to his channel with his own commentary and monetizes it.

(claiming that his partnership gives him rights to almost all video game footage)

He has done it 3 times so far and had no permission from my friend.

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I need a formal answer on if this is legal or not.
 
Not this is not okay, What's your friends channel and this guys channel? Time to do some Detective work -Turns into sherlock holmes-
 
If your friend uploads gameplay alone, he doesn't have copyright over the material and technically does not own the material either. I don't think this is right, but I don't know if it is illegal. I know you aren't allowed to make money off of other people's work but this one seems tricky. Posting videos on youtube gives some kind of standard license thing though so maybe that does something but I don't really know. :/

Actually don't even listen to me, I don't even know lol.. Your friend can flag the video or contact youtube and maybe they will do something about it.
 
I always like to caution people who ask for legal advice online. A lot of people like to think they know what the law covers, but in reality don't know the correct answer.

You must simply consider the facts. Yes, your friend recorded the gameplay. No, your friend doesn't own the copyright (otherwise this whole monetize gameplay nonsense wouldn't be an issue). Therefore, whether he gives permission or not is irrelevant because he doesn't own it in the first place. Now, if he was smart, he would watermark the video with a mark big enough and blatant enough that it can't be removed. There is nothing illegal going on here. He might be able to submit a claim to YouTube through the copyright notification reporting system, but there's no guarantee it will work.

I've asked this before and will do so again. Just because you guys think the answer should be a certain thing, does not mean you are correct. Please stop giving legal advice unless you genuinely know what you're talking about.

If you want anything more formal than that logic Unreal, you're going to have to pay a lawyer for their time.
 
Well I definitely wouldn't use the yttalk forums as a source of legal advice as tarmack said. But I will offer advice.

I would say to your friend he should send a message that he knows the guy is using his gameplay and will let him use it if he mentions in his video descriptions where it came from and gives a link.

If the guy whose stealing the gameplay has a small channel, then he won't be making anything of monetizing the gameplay anyway so who cares, it might be immoral but not like you're losing out on anything.

If he has a large channel then if he doesn't co-operate comment on his videos (with different accounts if you need to) saying where the footage came from and that he stole it, people love drama like this and will prob give your friend some nice traffic and lead to an apology from the other guy.

If it really really bothered you then you might be able to send a message to the guys partner manager and say "this guy claims that your company supports stealing content and that his contract allows it is this true" which will prob lead to a pretty swift "wtf you can't say that" from his partner manager.

Just some ideas good luck
 
phoenixblue said:
If your friend uploads gameplay alone, he doesn't have copyright over the material and technically does not own the material either. I don't think this is right, but I don't know if it is illegal. I know you aren't allowed to make money off of other people's work but this one seems tricky. Posting videos on youtube gives some kind of standard license thing though so maybe that does something but I don't really know. :/

Actually don't even listen to me, I don't even know lol.. Your friend can flag the video or contact youtube and maybe they will do something about it.
Click to expand...

It's not illegal but it's against YouTube's rules to steal someone elses videos and upload them. Whatever you create on youtube is yours.
 
That is what YT is basically all about when it comes to gaming. Someone uploads a video and then a bunch of other people upload the same content but with there own commentary. Its perfectly fine to do so because you added you own bit of spice to it. People have taken my content and uploaded it on there channel but with my permission so its perfectly fine even with them not altering any of the content.
YT is to big to care about a few minor issues. As long as you havent just stolen the video and not changed a thing, theres not much thats going to happen.
 
UnReaL said:
A friend of mine is having some YouTube drama with another guy.

The second guy takes video game gameplay and reuploads it to his channel with his own commentary and monetizes it.

(claiming that his partnership gives him rights to almost all video game footage)

He has done it 3 times so far and had no permission from my friend.

-

I need a formal answer on if this is legal or not.
Click to expand...

is not good when someone upload your content without your permission.... you could request a copyright infringement from youtube...

First, your friend needs to give that guy a warning to stop uploading your friend videos.... if he still upload his videos.... then you should ask youtube to remove these videos.
As far I know, even if the video is edited, you can still ask for copyright infringement.

From my experience.... I did some copyright claims a couple of times....even when the person edit my videos...... it's your work.... and he should ask for authorization.

I personally let small channels to upload some of my contents.... but for big channels I say no.... because they want to make a profit with your videos....
 
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