'Let's Play' videos may soon make you a felon thanks to Senate Bill S.978

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/02/lets-p...-senate-b/

by Jordan Mallory on Jul 2nd 2011 10:30PM

Hold on to your butts, Internet, because this party is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better. According to Game Informer, a Senate Bill has been introduced which, if passed, would make streaming unauthorized copyrighted material a felony, resulting in up to 5-years of jail time.

Bill S.978 states that "10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works" will result in "not more than 5 years" of imprisonment, so long as the performance in question is valued at at-least $2,500 USD, or if the value of a license to legally "perform" the content is valued at $5,000 or more.

These are, in essence, the same criteria that allow for DMCA take-down notices to be issued by copyright holders, however jail time and felony status are not currently associated with this particular flavor of copyright infringement. Should this bill jump through all the right hoops, its broadly worded contents could potentially cover everything from homemade gameplay clips (commonly referred to "Let's Play" videos), to fan-made music videos, webcam cover songs, and anything else that involves copyrighted music or video. S.978 could also potentially cover cell-phone videos of concerts and press events, making 13-year-old Beliebers and jaded gaming journalists alike equally in danger of losing their right to vote.

If accepted into law, these addenda will be attached to existing copyright laws and will not only apply to YouTube users, but to the sites that embed YouTube content as well. Internet activism group Demand Progress has set up a web-form for those who disagree with the legislation and wish to communicate their displeasure to their local representatives. We would be concerned about the bill's implications as well, but fear not dear reader: the legislation doesn't cover puppet shows as far as we can tell, so Joystiq Playhouse's shadow-kabuki production of Battle Arena Toshinden should still be on track.

Jeepers...

This should only affect people in the US

So us people outside should be fine, unless Youtube starts targeting people from other countries such as Canada, all of Europe, Japan, Korea, all SE Asian countries (Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines) etc.

As it's been discussed before in the LoL forums I know a little bit behind it already.

Basically what Riot's lawyer said is that it'll protect companies better so that's a good thing, but putting gamers in jail is bad.
You will be able to get permission from the IP owner to stream their copyrighted materials and make money from it I believe.

None of it even matter though because it will never pass.

I'm not sure if it's the same but:

http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php?t=45635

I liiked reading this http://shoryuken.com/2011/06/29/trolling...ltradavid/ :3

Yet everyone whines about how much money is wasted holding prisoners in jails.

No, dear intellectual property holders, you're not losing money because of this: you're not making money cause your intellectual property sucks. Get out of the legal system and take your Call of Duty clone with you before it leaves another mess in my PS3 again.

If this passes get ready for LulzSec 2.0 or some pomegranate.

People will hack up and down all over the place, and riot, and whatever the pineapple else people do these days.

if this passes i'm going to do everything in my power to not be a citizen anymore in this godforsaken hellhole of a homophobic country.

HERP DE DERP LETS HURT PEOPLE GIVING US FREE ADVERTISING CAUSE ITS -OUR- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAMNIT.

Most companies don't even have a problem with streaming footage as long as it's not leaked footage for a game that hasn't come out yet.

The few that have a problem with it already do something about it.

If this passes get ready for LulzSec 2.0 or some pomegranate.

People will hack up and down all over the place, and riot, and whatever the pineapple else people do these days.

What are the chances something that retarded passes, anyway?

Another law that will never be effectively enforced and will eventually be dropped, leaving only a massive wave of blaming other Congress members for their poor decisions.

And why are we leaving decisions like this to people that don't know pomegranate about it again?

And why are we leaving decisions like this to people that don't know pomegranate about it again?

Things have been done that way for so long, why stop now?

And why are we leaving decisions like this to people that don't know pomegranate about it again?

Because, sadly, these are the people we vote into office.

Send a letter against it here

Really, this is the worst thing since the DMCA in "ambiguous laws that give too much power for abuse". They don't want to adapt to the current market, so they make laws to hold back change.

I hope this doesn't pass for obvious reasons but let's be honest


LET'S PLAY videos are pretty awful. Why anyone would want to watch someone else play a game and commentate on it is beyond me. And I'm not shooting down video walkthroughs and such, just LP's with a person describing their experience between heavy breaths.

I hope this doesn't pass for obvious reasons but let's be honest


LET'S PLAY videos are pretty awful. Why anyone would want to watch someone else play a game and commentate on it is beyond me. And I'm not shooting down video walkthroughs and such, just LP's with a person describing their experience between heavy breaths.

there are people that do good "lets' play" (there should be at least one) but this is the part that i care less about hnestly, i want to watch my starcraft

I hope this doesn't pass for obvious reasons but let's be honest


LET'S PLAY videos are pretty awful. Why anyone would want to watch someone else play a game and commentate on it is beyond me. And I'm not shooting down video walkthroughs and such, just LP's with a person describing their experience between heavy breaths.

Here's what a well done LP looks like, i have a feeling you've never seen one.http://www.youtube.com/user/SocialDisson...NgnQMFhtXg

Octo: That's exactly like what I described minus the sarcastic comment about heavy breathing. Why anyone would watch something like is completely baffling to me. If I watch a video of something I would watch it without the commentary if at all possible because it takes away from the experience 99% of the time. That said, I don't watch video game videos at all unless I'm either a) checking out a game I want to buy or b) showing someone a certain scene/boss from a game. Let's Play videos rarely provide decent quality to fulfill either of these requirements.

The best videos are the ones that are purely video and in-game audio.

Octo: That's exactly like what I described minus the sarcastic comment about heavy breathing. Why anyone would watch something like is completely baffling to me. If I watch a video of something I would watch it without the commentary if at all possible because it takes away from the experience 99% of the time. That said, I don't watch video game videos at all unless I'm either a) checking out a game I want to buy or b) showing someone a certain scene/boss from a game. Let's Play videos rarely provide decent quality to fulfill either of these requirements.

The best videos are the ones that are purely video and in-game audio.

Have you played Monster Hunter? For most people who have if you were to think back to the fist time you played you'd understand how welcome something like this is. And he is proficient with many weapons and often enough explains why and how to be more proficient.

I would argue that for many games they are unnessecary because the skill cap is low or its just so simple or doesnt need explination, but for some games Let's Plays (demon's souls, monster hunter etc etc) have a real place. RTS or RTS have something more common but similiar to LPs generally covered in some casting or commentaries but the concept is the same. Now with the release DotA 2 i expect to see an increase in Playcasting, which i think will be interesting. I may even do a little myself if i were to get back into the genre in any competitive way. I for one think Shepards casts and LP are both excellent and really healthy for the community. He undertook a pretty massive task and succeeded epicly and just kept improving. Now if he could just bowgun like me and do some sick showboatin, trololol.

That said, I don't watch video game videos at all unless I'm either a) checking out a game I want to buy or b) showing someone a certain scene/boss from a game. Let's Play videos rarely provide decent quality to fulfill either of these requirements.

The best videos are the ones that are purely video and in-game audio.

I want to address this bit specifically because i think you're pulling away from your own point.

In the bolded, i agree you're right. The problem there isn't that Lets Play's exist but that most of them are shitty and done by basement dwellers who have to whisper into the mic to not wake up their cats, etc etc. The problem is the standard is low. Not that they exist at all.

I'm not sure if it's the same but:

http://www.southperry.net/showthread.php?t=45635

I liiked reading this http://shoryuken.com/2011/06/29/trolling...ltradavid/ :3

It's the same issue that I brought up, but thanks Ryukiroku for bring up the news article.

And while 案山子 is right in theory, the vagueness of the law really worries me. It really can mean that anyone who streams/records a game can be hunted down if companies choose to interpret it that way. And believe me... they will.