Can People Take Copyright Claims Too Far?
No. The answer is no.
I kid. I believe the answer to the question posed in the title is "sometimes." Sometimes people can take copyright issues too far, and to the detriment of their own brand.
The main thing that comes to mind right now is issues with Youtube copyright claims. It may be a minor thing in the grand scheme, but I watch quite a few gaming related things which often talk about getting hit with either false copyright claims, or ones that fall into a grey area because of "fair use."
The main thing that occurs is that a person will use video game footage in their video while either reviewing the game or playing it and commentating over it. The term fair use I'm sure has a big long definition, but the gist that I've been told by quite a few youtube videos is that fair use is mainly for transformative works, things that are changed by what it's paired with. In the case of a review, the game footage is transformed by the audio review placed over it, either by it showcasing the game elements it's talking about, or, like with commentating while playing, just by virtue of a discussion being had over the game while it is being played in the background. It's transformed by the added audio or effects and not the same as it once was.
This can be very broad and also vague. What constitutes a true transformation? It's not really defined.
This has become an issue because certain companies have made strikes against accounts that are doing the same thing as everyone else, for seemingly no reason other than out of spite because the review might be negative.
This has caused repercussions for the companies that have done it, and a general bad will directed towards them. They're seen as taking things too far for all the wrong reasons, and may have harmed business (this is a hard thing to quantify).
It's not necessarily bad that the company is protecting their brand, and if something defamatory or slanderous is said in a video that just isn't true it's their right to try and take it down. But the ones that are just playing their game or giving an honest review? Those are getting taken down too, sometimes by automation, and sometimes on purpose.
It's harmful because these reviews and playthroughs are basically free advertising for the companies that produce the games, and when they take this particular stance, other people who play those same games won't want to go through that headache, and all that advertising will vanish as soon as it came in, and that will cause harm to the business. (Not a hard thing to quantify, as there are numerous examples of these types of videos helping sales)
It might be changing times, but business need to make sure of what they are doing when they issue these copyright claims, and understand the repercussions. Most of the time these people are fans, and they quickly will not be fans any longer if they are mistreated. And just like a person experiencing poor customer service, those with thousands upon thousands of online followers will tell their audience of their experience.
You wouldn't want that to happen if you were a restaurant, would you? Someone with a bad experience telling how horrible the restaurant is in front of an audience of potentially hundreds of thousands of their own fans? The same applies here. Treat your customers with respect, but if someone comes in trying to steal food by all means call the cops on them because they deserve it. Make sure that is what's happening though, otherwise you may be getting more than you bargained for.
I kid. I believe the answer to the question posed in the title is "sometimes." Sometimes people can take copyright issues too far, and to the detriment of their own brand.
The main thing that comes to mind right now is issues with Youtube copyright claims. It may be a minor thing in the grand scheme, but I watch quite a few gaming related things which often talk about getting hit with either false copyright claims, or ones that fall into a grey area because of "fair use."
The main thing that occurs is that a person will use video game footage in their video while either reviewing the game or playing it and commentating over it. The term fair use I'm sure has a big long definition, but the gist that I've been told by quite a few youtube videos is that fair use is mainly for transformative works, things that are changed by what it's paired with. In the case of a review, the game footage is transformed by the audio review placed over it, either by it showcasing the game elements it's talking about, or, like with commentating while playing, just by virtue of a discussion being had over the game while it is being played in the background. It's transformed by the added audio or effects and not the same as it once was.
This can be very broad and also vague. What constitutes a true transformation? It's not really defined.
This has become an issue because certain companies have made strikes against accounts that are doing the same thing as everyone else, for seemingly no reason other than out of spite because the review might be negative.
This has caused repercussions for the companies that have done it, and a general bad will directed towards them. They're seen as taking things too far for all the wrong reasons, and may have harmed business (this is a hard thing to quantify).
It's not necessarily bad that the company is protecting their brand, and if something defamatory or slanderous is said in a video that just isn't true it's their right to try and take it down. But the ones that are just playing their game or giving an honest review? Those are getting taken down too, sometimes by automation, and sometimes on purpose.
It's harmful because these reviews and playthroughs are basically free advertising for the companies that produce the games, and when they take this particular stance, other people who play those same games won't want to go through that headache, and all that advertising will vanish as soon as it came in, and that will cause harm to the business. (Not a hard thing to quantify, as there are numerous examples of these types of videos helping sales)
It might be changing times, but business need to make sure of what they are doing when they issue these copyright claims, and understand the repercussions. Most of the time these people are fans, and they quickly will not be fans any longer if they are mistreated. And just like a person experiencing poor customer service, those with thousands upon thousands of online followers will tell their audience of their experience.
You wouldn't want that to happen if you were a restaurant, would you? Someone with a bad experience telling how horrible the restaurant is in front of an audience of potentially hundreds of thousands of their own fans? The same applies here. Treat your customers with respect, but if someone comes in trying to steal food by all means call the cops on them because they deserve it. Make sure that is what's happening though, otherwise you may be getting more than you bargained for.
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