QUESTION
A scene and song occurs in a video on YouTube of me recording myself playing a Nintendo Video Game is this fair use?
Asked on May 02nd, 2013 on Entertainment Law - Nebraska
More details to this question:
I recorded myself playing a Nintendo Video Game with a live voiceover. The entertainment value of such a video is commonly known as a "Let's Play". In two of the videos, YouTube has informed me that parts have matched copyrighted content. In one video it highlights a cut scene within the game, and claims it was a recording done by IGN. This isn't true because I recorded this myself on my own TV. Is it from the same game they did? Yes, but why doesn't it recognize that mistake? In another video Nintendo recognized the background music. But I am just playing their game... you're going to hear the music in it. Many before me have created much similar content, and with much higher quality. I feel this is a mistake. I don't want to have strikes on my account for something such as this, so I would like to dispute these claims. Is my usage of the game protected under the fair use policy?
1 ANSWER
You have not provided any evidence that your use of the video game qualifies for a Fair Use defense to the claim of copyright violation. Consequently, none of your recordings should be allowed on YouTube because they all violate copyrights owned or licensed by Nintendo. The fact that others have done the same thing or that others had higher quality recordings doesn't matter. Theft is theft, whether it's recording someone else's work off the TV screen or stealing the game itself from a store.
Answered on May 07th, 2013 at 2:39 PM