Read on Twitter
This Tweet is getting a lot of hate, but it's not wrong as pointed out by @bad_copyright. Remember when Nintendo announced the Nintendo Creator's Program? https://twitter.com/BangBangClick/status/1319305552560836609
If you wanted to upload Nintendo Let's Plays to YouTube, you had to be a member and pay them a portion of the money you earned from ads on your videos. If you didn't, Nintendo had the right to claim your video.
Let's Plays/streams are not necessarily transformative, nor should you rely on a fair use argument. There are arguments on both sides as pointed out in this thread re: SquareEnix threatening to remove FF VII remake videos https://twitter.com/questauthority/status/1253314654241251328
Point is, streamers shouldn't be relying on the fact that game devs/publishers have allowed their games to be streamed & uploaded online without consequence until now. Whether or not they should make gamers buy licenses to do so as suggested in the original thread is to be seen,
but Nintendo's first run (although a little different) didn't work. And some people are right, some companies love free advertising/exposure; games like Stardew Valley wouldn't have blown up if it weren't for Twitch.
Others devs watching streams because they love to see gamers enjoying what they worked so hard to create. But some companies might not want streamers making money off their product, and that's their right.
Streaming and LP's have gotten so big, it's surprising to me that some companies haven't tried harder to try and make money off others playing their games. If that does happen we'll probably see a revolt, from some gamers, but what will that do? EA is still making money after all
I 100% support the right for content creators to stream and play games for profit; I believe content creators make the Internet a better place, but we can't assume that the status quo will hold on this issue. Unfortunately, we just have to wait and see.
Sidenote, there's also the issue that most content creators don't have the resources large companies have to fight copyright strikes. Large studios/publishers have the money and the legal team to force creators to do what they want regarding streams and videos.
It might be a long time (if ever) until we see a case regarding the issue & until then, we're going to have to wait and see if copyright laws are amended to give us clarity (I highly doubt it). If anyone is aware of any video game streaming/video upload suits, send them my way!
