Many of YouTube’s popular gamers have been losing their advertising revenues with it instead being directed to companies making copyright claims.
Under new YouTube rules, any company claiming ownership of intellectual copyright used in a video can make a claim to receive revenue from the video. YouTube allows copyright owners to automatically search any videos that make use of the content that they own, which can then be flagged. Using a YouTube service named Content ID, they can block the content, monitor its traffic or claim revenues from advertising attached to the video.
While some companies like Nintendo are claiming revenue from YouTube gamer’s videos, others have been supporting video producing and encouraging the sharing of their content. Ubisoft is actively attempting to pull back a music rights holder from making claims on Ubisoft footage, stating:
“Due to recent changes in how YouTube allows copyright holders to file claims we have heard from many of you who have been frustrated by a sudden flurry of claims against your videos. At Ubisoft, we value the talented content creators on YouTube, and we want to empower all of you to produce Ubisoft-related videos.
“We are aware that many of the Ubisoft-related claims have come from IDOL, our longtime partner in the digital distribution of our music. We are working closely with IDOL to remove these claims. We kindly ask you to be patient, as this process may take another week or so to fully resolve.”
Other companies supporting YouTubers include Blizzard and Capcom.
What are your feelings on this and YouTube’s crackdown? Let us know in the comments.