Peter McCoy
Aug 14th, 2011, 10:25:34 AM
Hello fellow game lovers. Some of you may already be aware of this but for those who aren't, please read on.
S.978 is a bill currently being examined by congress and looking to be passed and made law some time in the future. What this bill is intended to do is make it illegal to stream copywritten material. This is essentially in responce to all of the video and audio streams of copywritten songs and movies and tv shows on streaming sites such as Youtube. This is completely understandable since the creators of such works deserve to be payed - uploading episodes of Game of Thrones is piracy so streaming it is targetted by this bill. Uploading a music album by Cee Lo Green is piracy so streaming it will be targetted by this bill. But under its current wording this bill will not only give copyright holders more protection against such forms of piracy, but it will also unnecessarily hurt a very large online community. In its current form this bill will render the uploading of videogame "Lets Play" videos a felony. So things like my very own Minecraft and Fallout: New Vegas episodes would break this law. Well not mine specifically since this is a US bill - or maybe it will since Youtube would be forced to remove the footage.
This is ridiculous as I am sure you will agree. The bill recognises that the uploading and streaming of movies, TV shiws and songs is causing loss of earnings for the copyright holders. But what the bill does not recognise is that footage such as my own Lets Play episodes encourage videogame sales and actually help generate revenue for the copyright holders.
I would not have bought Minecraft or Magicka or Terraria were it not for Youtubers X and Tobuscus. I hadn't even considered L.A Noire until I watched Tobuscus playing it and when it gets released on PC I will be buying it. The videogames industry should be very thankful for this online Lets Play gaming community. And I am certain they are. Tobuscus had a press pass to E3 and he uploaded a tonne of footage to get people excited about the upcoming games over the next year. This bill needs to be reworded before it is passed otherwise these communities will cease to exist and the internet will become a much more boring place.
Lets broaden things. As this bill is currently worded, if it is passed it sill make it a felony to stand in front of the camera with a hairbrush and give your own performance of Lady GaGa's Born This Way. Such a video will not cause loss of revenue for the copyright holders because anybody watching it will not think to themselves "Oh I don't need to buy the album/single because Peters got a video of himself doing it" - but again, the way the bill is worded will result in such absurdity.
When you buy a game you are purchasing a license to play that game and experience it. You are not purchasing a license to access and distribute the coding - that is what is protected by the copyright. So if I put the game coding on my screen and stream it, that is piracy. Streaming footage of me exploring and building in Minecraft is not piracy since I have purchased a license to play it and I am not violating that license or infringing on the copyright by doing so. But the bill does not go into such detail and the current wording needs amending. "Public performance of copywritten material via electronic means" is the wording, so yes episodes of The Walking Dead would rightly be targetted. But my playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas is not a copywritten material, it is a transfirmed work by me playing it and commentating on it. And it certainly won't result in people not buying the game since watching someone elses playthrough is no substitute for playing and enjoying it yourself.
Links:
Bill S.978 Official (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-978)
Sign the petition! (http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/ten_strikes?akid=700.450896.5hVZPC&rd=1&t=1)
S.978 is a bill currently being examined by congress and looking to be passed and made law some time in the future. What this bill is intended to do is make it illegal to stream copywritten material. This is essentially in responce to all of the video and audio streams of copywritten songs and movies and tv shows on streaming sites such as Youtube. This is completely understandable since the creators of such works deserve to be payed - uploading episodes of Game of Thrones is piracy so streaming it is targetted by this bill. Uploading a music album by Cee Lo Green is piracy so streaming it will be targetted by this bill. But under its current wording this bill will not only give copyright holders more protection against such forms of piracy, but it will also unnecessarily hurt a very large online community. In its current form this bill will render the uploading of videogame "Lets Play" videos a felony. So things like my very own Minecraft and Fallout: New Vegas episodes would break this law. Well not mine specifically since this is a US bill - or maybe it will since Youtube would be forced to remove the footage.
This is ridiculous as I am sure you will agree. The bill recognises that the uploading and streaming of movies, TV shiws and songs is causing loss of earnings for the copyright holders. But what the bill does not recognise is that footage such as my own Lets Play episodes encourage videogame sales and actually help generate revenue for the copyright holders.
I would not have bought Minecraft or Magicka or Terraria were it not for Youtubers X and Tobuscus. I hadn't even considered L.A Noire until I watched Tobuscus playing it and when it gets released on PC I will be buying it. The videogames industry should be very thankful for this online Lets Play gaming community. And I am certain they are. Tobuscus had a press pass to E3 and he uploaded a tonne of footage to get people excited about the upcoming games over the next year. This bill needs to be reworded before it is passed otherwise these communities will cease to exist and the internet will become a much more boring place.
Lets broaden things. As this bill is currently worded, if it is passed it sill make it a felony to stand in front of the camera with a hairbrush and give your own performance of Lady GaGa's Born This Way. Such a video will not cause loss of revenue for the copyright holders because anybody watching it will not think to themselves "Oh I don't need to buy the album/single because Peters got a video of himself doing it" - but again, the way the bill is worded will result in such absurdity.
When you buy a game you are purchasing a license to play that game and experience it. You are not purchasing a license to access and distribute the coding - that is what is protected by the copyright. So if I put the game coding on my screen and stream it, that is piracy. Streaming footage of me exploring and building in Minecraft is not piracy since I have purchased a license to play it and I am not violating that license or infringing on the copyright by doing so. But the bill does not go into such detail and the current wording needs amending. "Public performance of copywritten material via electronic means" is the wording, so yes episodes of The Walking Dead would rightly be targetted. But my playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas is not a copywritten material, it is a transfirmed work by me playing it and commentating on it. And it certainly won't result in people not buying the game since watching someone elses playthrough is no substitute for playing and enjoying it yourself.
Links:
Bill S.978 Official (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s112-978)
Sign the petition! (http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/ten_strikes?akid=700.450896.5hVZPC&rd=1&t=1)