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Gamechive wrote:
No, I was not aware of this. Hmm. Who would I contact about this? How can a LP'er be compensated for their longplays (ad-revenue) without receiving permission from the publishers of those games? Sounds like a lot of LP'ers could be in legal trouble if they don't have the permissive rights. (Are longplays really fair use?) Even if cubex55 posts other LP'ers videos to his YouTube channel, there still has to be documentation provided that the copyright holders have given permission?both the game publishers AND the LP'er. If cubex55 is partnered with another YouTube channel that already has obtained those rights (ex. Machinima, etc.), then the game publishers aren't an issue, and if the LP'ers give consent, then it's all good. That's my understanding, anyway.
There are no written documentation on ownership, no, so technically each creator has full rights to each video he or she creates. But since you upload the video the site, implicit permission is given to let WoL distribute your content (why else would you upload it), and whether that is download-links on Archive.org or streaming on YouTube doesn't really matter. Also, I'm pretty sure if someone came out and asked that their videos would be removed from YT (or the site itself), we would just remove them.
As for the permission from owners of the original content, I don't see how this can be a problem for the individual Longplayer. We have to assume that WoL has permissions to redistribute our videos in the ways it does. I have no idea what the discussion has been with our partner, and frankly don't really care. It's not my job to make sure we are legally clear, it's my job to create videos of gameplay for others to enjoy. :)
Anyway, as Stenio said before, there's not really much point in discussing the finer details of the copyright situation here, since Schlabadachi is the one who has the real and correct information on our situation. Easiest found in IRC via the "Chat" menu.