YouTube slaps copyright violation notices on game footage videos

A number of YouTube users who post game walkthroughs and feature footage from games in other ways are finding that their content is being flagged for copyright violation. It seems that uploaders are falling victim to YouTube's automated ContentID system which is responsible for weeding out all manner of copyrighted material. What is interesting is that videos are not being removed from YouTube, but are unable to earn money from advertisements, leading to a loss in revenue for a lot of people.

Uploaders are warned that their videos are still viewable but told that the flagged video's copyright is owned by someone else. What is confusing is the fact that the companies named in relation to the warnings do not actually seem to be the copyright holder. For example, VentureBeat cites the case of warnings being handed out for videos featuring footage from the game Metro: Last Light.

In this instance, the copyright holder is Deep Silver but the copyright warnings that were issued made reference to a YouTube channel called 4GamerMovie. Deep Silver issued a statement explaining that anyone issued with a warning should dispute it, saying that they were working with YouTube to resolve the "various issues that have plagued the YouTube gaming community".

Major game publishers such as Capcom, Blizzard and Ubisoft have also voiced support for video uploaders and said that the copyright violation claims have not necessarily been instigated by them. In a tweet, Capcom said "YouTubers: If you are receiving content matches, please dispute them so that we can clear any false claims".

It is worth noting that while the uploading of game footage is, technically, a violation of copyright, it is something that is usually overlooked by game publishers as videos posted essentially serve as free advertising.

Have you been affected by the copyright warnings? Are you going to roll over and take it, or are you going to dispute it?

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