Nintendo Claims Copyrights on YouTube Vids, Will Monetize Let’s Plays

The YouTube Let's Play community will no longer be able to monetize videos featuring Nintendo content any more. The publisher has filed Content ID matches with YouTube so all revenue generated by these unofficial videos will go directly to Nintendo.

YouTube is filled with hundreds of videos generated by a never-ending community of game aficionados known as Let's Players. The videos are gameplay-centric affairs, with most featuring added commentary about the level, characters, or game in general. Some Let's Play creators have been able to make a career out of playing games online for others to watch. However, that's money Nintendo believes belongs in its hands.

According to Game Front, Nintendo has now staked a claim to any and all videos using its games. The first reported instance of this issue came from Let's Player Zack Scott, who posted a notification on his Facebook about how he will no longer play Nintendo games due to the publisher's Content Matching. Violating copyright several times could potentially lead to the account being suspended on YouTube, which would cut into an LPer's income tremendously.

For its part, Nintendo doesn't think it's doing anything wrong, and that in no way, shape, or form should others be profiting from the Nintendo catalog. The company issued a statement to Game Front indicating Nintendo won't block the content, but it certainly will take all the money generated by the video.

As part of our on-going push to ensure Nintendo content is shared across social media channels in an appropriate and safe way, we became a YouTube partner and as such in February 2013 we registered our copyright content in the YouTube database. For most fan videos this will not result in any changes, however, for those videos featuring Nintendo-owned content, such as images or audio of a certain length, adverts will now appear at the beginning, next to or at the end of the clips. We continually want our fans to enjoy sharing Nintendo content on YouTube, and that is why, unlike other entertainment companies, we have chosen not to block people using our intellectual property.

It's certainly a head-scratching move by Nintendo, which could effectively lead to a severe lack of Nintendo game footage on YouTube. If no one wants to play the games for fear of not making any money while investing time to play, capture, edit, and post hours and hours of footage, Nintendo might not have to worry about seeking out its copyrighted material.

What do you think of Nintendo's move? Is this a publisher going too far, or is the company completely in the right?