So, is anyone familiar with http://www.N4Gtv.com? I was just approached by them for a partnership offer on my Youtube Channel, and I'm debating whether or not to take it.
They seem to be legitimate, but they also seem to be rather unpopular and I'm not sure they're going anywhere.
Yeah, they're only 2 months old, and this is hardly too good to be true. They seem to have built up enough support infrastructure to be taking themselves seriously, though. And yeah, though their most popular video series are only getting about 1/2 to 1/4 the views mine currently do, that
would make me the most watched channel on their network... which might help bring in some casual browsers looking to see what the fuss is all about. And helping a young network with a decent set of principals grow wouldn't be all bad.
Honestly, the most attractive part of getting a partnership offer is the legal protections made available from working with a network. I've had to fight off 4 bogus copyright claims by myself, assembling my own legal documentation to defend myself... and I've still lost the right to monetize or show some of my content, because I can't afford a lawyer, and don't have an office where I can request written certifications from every game developer who's work I've featured.
As a bit of background: the teams that file copyright claims on Youtube are separate entities than the copyright holders themselves, and they're paid to browse Youtube looking for channels with content to file claims against. Due to the way Youtube works, the uploader is immediately considered guilty until proven innocent, and they only have one chance to successfully contest these claims, or they can kiss their content goodbye. And anyone can file a copyright violation claim against you. Hell, "FUNimation" recently filed a copyright claim against themselves, and Youtube forced them to take their own content down without even batting an eye:
To top it off, parodies and other transformative works that make use of copyrighted source material, despite being thoroughly protected by Fair Use Law, have started being coopted by copyright holders with the blessing of Youtube. Without the consent of the content creators, Youtube uses their content to illegally create ad revenue streams for the copyright claimants instead. The owners of the channel have no control over it, and no way to fight it but to take down their own content.
So yeah... signing on with some network is looking increasingly attractive, because Youtube pretty much has a Monopoly on streaming media services, leaving users that don't have a legal staff on hand little option but to go along with whatever they say. It's a pretty ugly corner of the internet, all things considered.