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[vagel7]

Hehe

"So, what are you doing time for?"
"I did a Let's Play of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3"

[CJ1145]

In other news, FBI agents are still on the lookout for the infamous criminals who have remained at the top of their Most Wanted List for the last three months. Known as "The Freelance Astronauts", this quartet of game streamers has eluded authorities consistently, and FBI Director Jack Thompson has issued a request to all citizens to send in any information they may have about the location of these "nefarious ne'er-do-wells".

[Vector]

"So, what are you doing time for?"
"I did a Let's Play of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3"

"Yeah, I'm in here for Harvest Moon =/"

*cough*

Needless to say, I'm hoping our generation figures out how to deal with this gigantic issue of copyright before too long, because I feel that most of the proposed solutions aren't going to fix anything.

[Nikov]

I think five years is a fair maximum sentence for a judge to say, you, guy who uploaded two hundred recent DVD release movies to BorrowToBuyLaterIfILikeItEnoughBay, will be spending five years in a minimum security prison as a highway cleaning vassal of the state because you knowlingly damaged a business for a half million dollars in lost revenue.

I seriously doubt any court will send you guys to jail for your Lets Play's, and to be honest, think this is a big panic on the YouTube crowd's part.

[Neonivek]

Except Nikov you don't want laws to approach that area.

One side effect Nikov is that companies would be allowed, more then they currently do, to legally harass sites.

So if this law passes... then Youtube can be spammed with "take this down copyright" spam... much more then it currently does (CardgamesFTW for example is harassed by constant bots despite using, currently, legal material)

[Draco18s]

So if this law passes... then Youtube can be spammed with "take this down copyright" spam... much more then it currently does (CardgamesFTW for example is harassed by constant bots despite using, currently, legal material)

Funny thing about YouTube.  They took a whole different approach to copyright.  They approached copyright holders and said, "we've got this software that can compare your copyrighted material to an uploaded video (both audio and visual).  What would you like us to do if a video is in violation?  Block it, or display ads for your product?"

In the US a whole host of companies are opting for the second option.  It's why when watching someone's AMV you might see an ad for the very song used in the AMV.

[Vector]

In the US a whole host of companies are opting for the second option.  It's why when watching someone's AMV you might see an ad for the very song used in the AMV.

Yeah.  Because it's smarter, and consumers don't really mind clicking past an ad the first time they listen to a cool video.

Also, this phenomenon makes me rather happy.

[Soadreqm]

I'm not a lawyer, but I pretend to be one on the internet.

Except Nikov you don't want laws to approach that area.

One side effect Nikov is that companies would be allowed, more then they currently do, to legally harass sites.

So if this law passes... then Youtube can be spammed with "take this down copyright" spam... much more then it currently does (CardgamesFTW for example is harassed by constant bots despite using, currently, legal material)

No. Let's Play videos are already illegal. Sharing any material from a video game, unless it falls under the strict rules of "fair use", is technically illegal. If they feel like it, game companies can already demand that you take down whatever they think offends their copyrights, threatening lawsuit if you don't. If they think it's an acceptable use of company resources, they can also actually sue you for real, and you'll be required to show up in court and defend your use of whatever material you used. The loser gets to pay damages (and probably legal fees) to the winner. No one does this, of course, because it would be crazy. There's no real reason anyone would start doing it after this bill, either.

The only things this law would do, as far as I can tell, are:
1) Extend copyright protection to live streaming, in case there are some loopholes about that, which there might be.
2) Make the whole sordid affair a criminal matter rather than a civil one. This sounds like it could be kind of important.

[ToonyMan]

I wonder where Retsupurae would fall into this.

[Neonivek]

I wonder where Retsupurae would fall into this.

Unless they made an addition that makes "Parody" fair use.

Illegal.

[Vector]

Parody and satire have always been fair use.

[Aqizzar]

I wonder where Retsupurae would fall into this.

Depending on the Resupuaer, anything from theft of copyright theft to libel and slander.

Hmm, if you rebroadcast a rebroadcast of copyrighted material, would also be legally culpable?

[SalmonGod]

I seriously doubt any court will send you guys to jail for your Lets Play's, and to be honest, think this is a big panic on the YouTube crowd's part.

Mostly... but the legacy of the copyright debate over the last 15 years has been full of overreactions on BOTH sides.  There have been more than a handful of lives ruined by undeserved lawsuits that should have been laughed out of court.  I think it's safe to assume that our internet cultures would soldier on, but there would be casualties at all ranks of participation.

[Neonivek]

Parody and satire have always been fair use.

I can officially say that this is untrue.

There have been laws that actually excluded Parody and Satire from fair use.

One of which was only recently taken down.

[Vector]

Wah, really?  Thanks for telling me!  I'd had no idea.