The Youtube copyright issue is raging as highlighted in Peter’s story earlier this evening.
This morning Blizzard issued a message to their fans instructing them to “contest content matches” in videos being flagged by Youtube. According to Blizzard they are “working on a long term solution, but that is the quickest way to solve issues immediately.”
Capcom issued a similar statement asking Youtubers to let them know if their videos are being flagged. As has been suggested, many of the copyright claims are being created by unknown entities so the problem could get worse as anyone can file a copyright claim.
The issue of videos being flagged as “matches” or copyright infringement is going to be a massive headache for any Youtube video creators using videogame footage.
We’re not quite sure at this point how far reaching this clampdown is, but it appears channels are now starting to suffer with a swathe of copyright claims on content which could effectively shut down channels. The system is flagging a higher percentage of videos than usual.
Publishers who can be bothered to deal with YouTube’s new policy are going to be rather busy but unfortunately not all will be accommodating and help the video creators. It’s going to be interesting to see how this one plays out.
In tomorrow’s IncGamers Podcast / vidcast we discuss the issue and you can tune in for that at 9AM GMT.
